The Lotus Flower Hotel Comes in Handy
by Luna Rivera528
Summary: A relationship is like a car. As long as there is enough in common between the two, aka gas, the the relationship will keep moving farther and farther from where it started out, like a car. But if there's no gas, the car will just stay still. Then, you can stay in that car as long as you want, but if there's no gas, it won't move forward, like a relationship. Ch 28 up!
1. Chapter 1: No Gifts?

**_Okay guys. This is going to be my birthday story. No one has gotten my birthday right yet, but if you do, I'll mention you in my story in the beginning or end, and I'll make you a character in the story. You just have to describe how your character is. _**

**The Lotus Flower Hotel Comes In Handy**

It was Annabeth's and Percy's 5 year anniversary, and Percy was freaking out.

"Thalia! Please! I am _begging_ you to _please_ help me find a gift for Annabeth. I don't know what to get her!"

"Percy." Thalia sighed in exasperation. "Your her boyfriend _and_ her best friend. I'm pretty sure you know what to get her."

"That's the thing!" Percy exclaimed. "I don't! I've given her a stuffed owl with it holding a light pink heart in its mouth and 'I love you' written in Ancient Greek sewed on the heart in red, a pair of earrings with a grey owl perched on top of a green-ish trident, a bunch of lead pencils with 'Seaweed Brain loves his Wise Girl' in Ancient Greek also engraved on it, and a sketch book with blue waves and a grey owl on the cover, with the words 'Percy is a Seaweed Brain and Annabeth is his Wise Girl', naturally in Ancient Greek, making the wave pattern. My brain is dead! I need your help!"

Thalia gave him a confused look. "First of all, your brain is _always _dead, and second of all, how in the world did you manage to get everything in Ancient Greek?"

"Well..." Percy squirmed uncomfortably, "I kind of used the Mist to get the guy to do it. But it had to be a _special_ gift! Annabeth's my girlfriend!"

"Percy!" Thalia scolded. "You can't manipulate the Mist for that! You're not even supposed to know _how_ to do it! How did you learn?"

"It's a long story, but I still need a gift for Annabeth." Percy complained.

"Fine." Thalia grumbled. "I'll go with you if you can bribe me."

Percy hit his head on the bookshelf. "Just tell me before I chicken out." he mumbled.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Don't bang your head on something solid. You don't have any brain cells to spare. And, let's see, what do you have to offer?"

"Um, 5 drachmas?"

Thalia waved her hand dismissively. "Nah. That's not good enough. I mean, I'd have to be in your company for the _entire _day! Pure torture, especially since you don't have a brain."

"Hey!" Percy protested. "I do too have a brain!"

"One's that full of kelp, no wait, seaweed."

Percy stuck his tongue out at her. "So what's your bargain? And it has to be reasonable."

"Hmm... Since it's your fifth anniversary with Annabeth, and it's really important, it's gonna be a big price." Thalia said, a mischievouse smile on her face. "But because your my cousin, I _guess_ I could lower the price a bit."

"Gee, thanks." Percy interjected sarcastically.

"Your welcome!" Thalia said cheerfully. "_Anyway, _what I was _going_ to say before I was so _rudely_ interrupted was that you can be my servant for a week, _and_ give me the 5 drachmas. No, make it 10."

"What! Are you crazy? First of all, only _you_ and Nico would have that type of money **(A.N. Her dad's Zeus, she gets what she wants, and Nico's dad rules the underworld and has access to all the minerals and stuff, like diamonds, gold, etc.)** and since I'm _not_ the son of Hades _or _Zeus, I don't have that many drachmas to spare. Besides, what happed to taking it easy?" Percy exclaimed indignantly.

"That _is _easy, stupid. And anyway, since it's Annabeth's fifth year anniversary, I decided to raise it a little too. After all it _is _a special occasion." Thalia said, mocking Percy.

"I hate you." Percy mumbled. "But what happens if there's an emergency, and I need a drachma, and I remembered that I gave all of them to you? Then what? If I die my death'll be in your hands! At least let me keep 3 drachmas!"

"Percy, don't me so melodramatic. If you need a drachma, just ask me for one, and I'll gladly lend you one. Okay?" Thalia asked.

_Well, if it was an **emergency** and I needed to I'M other people, you're probably **not** around. So... there wouldn't really be much of a point giving me one when I got back to you **alive. **Should I negotiate with her? Wow! Big word! Okay, back to business... Yeah, not worth it. I'll just ask Dad or Annabeth or **somebody else** for some more. _Percy thought in his head.

"Fine..." Percy sighed in defeat. "When can we go look for a gift?"

"Well, not today." Thalia responded, happy that she was getting a good deal of it this, "I'm really busy today, so how about Friday? Is that good for you?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Percy said.

"Great!" Thalia exclaimed. "I'll wake you up at 5:30 am. See ya there!" and with that she started walking away.

Percy started walking back to his cabin as well, but then Thalia's words sunk into him and he turned around in panic. "Wait, _5:00 **am**? _Thalia! I can't wake up that early! Thalia!" But his cries were lost in the bustle of camp. Percy slumped against his cabin wall and hid his head in his hands. That was going to be a _long_ day.

**_Okay! First chapter=finished! I'm going to add a few more, but this is more of an intro. The title gets its name from a different part of the story. I'm not telling you much about it yet, though. That would ruin the whole story! So, don't forget to review, but if you want me to explain something to you, you might want to leave who you are so I can reply. Or else I'll just make do with it. 'Cause I accept anonymous reviews too. Oh! And Happy Belated Birthday to Angus Wilson! If your reading this, Angus, (that would seriously creep me out) I have a question for you. What's it like being 13? For the other peoples who aren't him, his birthday was yesterday, January 11, also known as 1/11/11. _**

**_Well guys, gotta fly._**

**_Luna Rivera528_**

**_P.S. I will always wish someone a happy birthday, so if you guys want me to, tell me your birthday in your reviews and I'll wish you a happy birthday when it comes around. _**


	2. Chapter 2: Annabeth's Problem

**_Okay! Hi! Sorry I haven't updated, I was studying for a spelling for ACSI, (association for christian schools international), and I got 2nd place! ") But anyway, I'm really really really sorry about not updating for a while. To make it up, I'm going to add 1-2 new characters to my story, and you get to make them up! Details for the competition are at the bottem._**

**The Lotus Flower Hotel Comes In Handy: Chapter 2**

"Hi Thalia!" Annabeth greeted.

"Hi Annabeth! What's up?" Thalia asked.

"Oh, not that much. Percy and my anniversary is coming, and his birthday. Plus, I have to finish sketching Artemis's temple. Do you think you could help me with that? You _were_ Artemis's lieutenant, after all." Annabeth requested.

"Sure!" Thalia replied enthusiastically, "I'd love to! She'd probably like silver-ish walls made out of marble, with a domed ceiling that's kind-of a silvery-gold-ish color, and with a bunch of jewels, maybe diamonds, to represent stars on the walls of the temple, and placed in patterns, like real constellations, and have a door made out of silver that's completely polished, with the moon engra-"

"Slow down, Thalia!" Annabeth said laughing. "I need to actually get my sketch pad first. Plus, I still have to write down all the specifics."

"Sorry." Thalia said sheepishly. "I just kind of get excited when I'm thinking of Lady Artemis's new temple, especially when Kronos destroyed her old ones." Thalia frowned, recalling that scene. "It used to be pretty nice, too."

"Yeah, I know." Annabeth responded. "Well, if I'm going to draw all those things you put down _just _for the outside, you'll have to do me a favor."

"Sure. What is it?" Thalia asked curiously.

"Oh, just find out what Percy wants for his birthday. I'll take care of the anniversary gift. _And_ you have to go shopping with me." Annabeth said carelessly.

Thalia's eyes bulged. "You mean you _don't _know what Percy want's for his birthday? But you're like, the best gift-giver _ever!_ The _very _best! How do you not know what _Percy_ wants for his birthday? You're his _girlfriend_ for Zeus's sake! Even though I don't really understand your reasoning there." Thalia said as an afterthought.

Annabeth punched Thalia on the shoulder and said, "He's my boyfriend, and he's nice, and cute, and funny, and-"

"Okay, okay!" Thalia held her hands up in mock surrender. "Sheesh! I don't need to listen to his attributes. Why don't you just add clueless, stupid, and forgetful, and don't punch me?"

"Thalia..." Annabeth warned.

"Sorry."

"No you're not." Annabeth said.

"Yeah, probably not."

* * *

Thalia described her plan to Nico. "So? What do you think?"

"I think it's evil, but funny." Nico said, warming up to the idea. "Let's do it."

"Okay, so_ you_ find out what Percy wants and I'll go shopping with you and him. Then _you _have to find out what _Annabeth_ wants, and we'll both go shopping with her too, 'k?" Thalia explained.

"Yeah, that'll work. What do you think they're gonna do to us if they find out?" Nico asked.

"I dunno." Thalia shrugged. "All we have to do is pin the blame on Travis and Connor. They're such big pranksters, Annabeth and Percy will think that they did it for _sure!_ That way, _we _won't get caught, and the Stoll's can suffer the punishment that Annabeth and Percy would've done to us."

"Great." Nico said. He still had a grudge on the Hermes cabin for pranking him so often and painting his cabin hot pink. Pink! He was a son of Hades's, for crying out loud! He didn't do _pink._ He used black. Besides, black was cooler anyway.

* * *

**_Like it? Hate it? Review the story! Are you excited to find out Thalia's 'evil' plan? At first, I was only going to make this a five chapter story, but I got a flash of inspiration. Here are the details for the competition:_**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

**_*Name:_**

**_*Age:_**

**_*Asian/European/American/etc:_**

**_*Skin color:_**

**_*Eye color:_**

**_*Hair color:_**

**_*Boy/Girl:_**

**_*Godly son/daughter of whom:_**

**_Height (Tall, medium, or short):_**

**_Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):_**

**_Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know):  
_**

**_So, answer the competition in your reviews. And just to let you know, the new character will stick around for a while, not just be introduced and leave. So it's almost like a main character. So... Review! I like reviews more than being put on the favorite stories list._**

**_Luna Rivera528_**


	3. Chapter 3: Finding a Mall

Finally. Third chapter. This will be when Percy gets ready to go shopping with Thalia and Nico. I'm going to put the new character/characters in during Percy's birthday party. If it's someone else's friend, I'll make it seem like they just invited that person for no reason, or just to annoy Percy, or something like that. So, don't forget to review!

**The Lotus Flower Hotel Comes In Handy: Chapter 3 Finding a Mall**

_Ding Dong_! The doorbell rang, at Percy's door. The sound echoed through the apartment. "Coming!" Percy shouted. He opened the door to see Thalia and Nico standing there, playing rock, paper, scissors. He shook his head at their immaturity.

"Ha!" Thalia shouted. "Beat you! See, rock _always _wins."

"Nuh uh!" Nico argued. "You just got lucky."

"Right." Thalia deadpanned. "You've been saying that for the past, what was it again?, _15 _games."

"Whatever." Nico muttered, brushing past Percy and plopping down on the couch.

"Oh hi, Percy, how are you? May I sit on your couch and put my feet on the coffee table? Thanks." Percy said.

"Oh, shut up." Thalia said, brushing past Percy the same way Nico did. "We're doing you a _favor._"

"Yeah, and getting _paid_ for it." Percy countered.

"Touche." Nico interjected.

"So, where are we going shopping, Percy?" asked Thalia, sitting down next to Nico and flicking his shoulder.

"Could you _stop _that?" Nico asked, annoyed."

"Nah."

"You're impossible."

"I know."

"Guys, guys, guys! Can we focus on Annabeth's present?" Percy pleaded.

"Sure." Thalia shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do. So, _which _mall are we going again?"

"Um. About that. You see, I don't really know. I thought that _you _would know, seeing as you _are_ are girl and everything." Percy confessed.

"And everything." Nico mimicked.

"Ow! That was my shoulder, Thalia!"

"I know." Thalia said smugly.

"Thalia," Percy said slowly, "what did you do to Nico?"

"Didn't you see?" Thalia asked innocently.

"No. I was busy trying to put _your _shoes on the mat because _someone_ left them on the floor. Then I had to wipe the mud off the floor that _someone_ tracked in the house." Percy replied, annoyed.

"Oh, I didn't do much." Thalia said.

"Yeah. She didn't do anything _except _for punching me and shocking me with lightning _at the same time._" Nico said, rubbing his shoulder.

"Okay. Thalia, you find a mall. I'll get some money, and Nico, you... you can help Thalia. _Without _annoying her." Percy said sternly.

"Killjoy." Nico murmured.

* * *

Percy was upstairs in his room, and he was looking for a special card. His Lotus Casino card that had unlimited money. Not that he would tell Nico or Thalia that. But if he _needed _to use it, he would be prepared. He was in the middle of looking under his bed when he Nico scream. He decided that it was probably Thalia zapping him again and continued looking for the card. "Ah ha!" he said to himself. "Found it!" He took the card and tucked it into his wallet when he heard Nico scream again. He made out the words, "Percy! I swear... Styx... murder you...get your *s* down here...if I die... Hades...Fields of Punishment...hurry up...Thalia's...Ouch!...Quit it!" Lovely. He guessed that Thalia was zapping him and he decided that Nico's message was "Percy! I swear on the River Styx that I'll murder you if you don't get your *s* down here NOW! If I die, Hades will kill you and you'll be in the Fields of Punishment! Thalia's zapping me to death! Ouch! Quit it!" It was probably safe to say that he should get down there before it got out of control.

* * *

Meanwhile, Thalia was, yes, in the process of zapping Nico. And yes, that was basically Nico's message to Percy. But as soon as Thalia heard Percy coming down the stairs, she quit zapping Nico, and hopped back on the chair next to the computer and pretended to be innocently looking for malls. Nico got up and groaned. Percy burst through the doors of the living room and saw... Thalia surfing the web looking for nearby malls to visit? He shot Nico The Look. "What?" Nico whined. "She really _was _zapping me."

"Whatever you say, Nico." Percy said wryly. "Thalia, did you find a mall yet?"

"Yep!" Thalia said cheerily. "We can go to The Shops At Columbus Circle. Here's the address." she handed Percy a piece of paper she printed out. Then, when Percy's head was bent looking at it, she stuck her tongue out at Nico, whose response was to flip her the bird.

"Okay. Is everyone ready?" Percy asked.

"Yep!" Thalia said.

"Sure." Nico grumbled.

Percy called a cab and all but forced Nico to sit next to Thalia.

"I don't wanna get zapped again!" Nico had complained.

"I never zapped you!" Thalia insisted innocently.

"Yeah right. And my name's Harry." Nico said, rolling his eyes.

"Nico. Just sit next to Thalia. She's not gonna zap you." Percy sighed.

"No!"

"Yes!" Thalia said, grinning evilly.

"Nooooo!"

"You know what?" Percy said tiredly. "If you sit in the car, I swear on the River Styx that Thalia will _not_ zap you. Okay? Happy?"

"Yes." Nico replied calmly.

"You know, that was a rhetorical question." Thalia said.

"Whatever." Nico responded. The two continued to argue while Percy gave the address to the taxi driver.

"59th & Columbus Circle, please." Percy said.

Nico commented, "That's a really unoriginal name."

"Is unoriginial even a word?"

"It is now." Nico retorted. "I said a word, so it must be a word."

The three of them continued to bicker in the taxi while the were driven toward Columbus Circle.

* * *

**_Yeah, the endings kind of lame. I know. Anyway, I'm writing a bunch of chapters today because I feel like it. Does anyone know my birthday, yet?_**

**_Luna Rivera528_**


	4. Chapter 4: Shopping with Percy: Part 1

**_New chapter! Instead of always saying the title, now I'm just gonna say what chapter it is and the name of it. Okay? Okay. I'm sure you understand. ") Oh, and my birthday is... JANUARY 23! Some of your guesses were SO close. But you can still be a character in my story. Just check out chapter 2 in this story and answer the guidelines, okay?_**

**Chapter 4: Shopping With Percy Part 1**

Percy rubbed his temples as the taxi came to a stop in front of The Shops at Columbus Circle. Why, oh _why_, did he have to be cousins with Thalia and Nico? Couldn't he be cousins with someone more, well, you know, normal?

"Here we are!" The taxi driver said cheerfully. "That'll be $50."

"What!" Percy exclaimed. "$50 for _one _taxi ride to Columbus Circle? Isn't it supposed to be only $17?"

"Well, I had to risk my mental sanity, so I figured I'm entitled to 50 smackaroos. Pay up." The taxi driver, Dave, said.

"Fine." Percy huffed. He handed $50 to Dave and interrupted Thalia and said, "Get out of the car, or else I'll burst your water pipes!"

"Wow, Percy." Thalia remarked and she pushed Nico out and then climbed out herself, "You could've asked politely, you know."

"Yeah, but then you wouldn't have come out of the car. You already owe me $16." Percy shot back.

"No." Thalia said. "You owed _me _$16 for finding a mall, now we can comsider all debts null and void."

"Whatever. Nico owes me $16 though."

"What?"

Thalia and Percy walked through the doors, ignoring Nico's outburst.

* * *

"So, what do girls' like anyway?" Percy asked.

"Um, jewelry. Oh! And Annabeth likes stuffed owls." Thalia told him.

"How about we just go find a real owl and give it to her in a cage?" Nico suggested.

Percy gave Nico The Look, while Thalia rolled her eyes. "Boys." she said.

"Okay, then I'll go to a stuffed animal store and look for grey owls, and you and Percy can go to the jewelry store?" Nico proposed.

"Hey! How come _you _get to go look for stuffed animals, while _I _have to go to a _jewelry _store?" Percy protested.

"Because she's your girlfriend and she's not mine." Nico said in response.

"Good point."

"I know, right?"

"Wait a second!" Thalia cut in. "Didn't you already _give _Annabeth a grey owl _and _a necklace?"

"Oh yeah." Percy remembered. He sighed dejectedly. "Now what?"

"How would I know?" Thalia threw up her hands. "Like Nico said, you're her boyfriend."

"Oh! I know!" Nico shouted ecstatically. "How about we give a her a gift card to a clothing store and you can buy her another necklace?"

"That...actually might be a good idea." Percy mulled. "Okay, let's do it."

"Do I still have to pay you $16" Nico asked.

"Yeah." Percy said absentmindedly.

"You're not very grateful." Nico complained

"I'm not a very grateful person." Percy retorted.

* * *

"Ooh! Can we go into Hot Topic? Pleeeaaaasssseeee?" Thalia asked pleadingly.

"No." Percy said. "We have to find a gift for Annabeth. And I _know _she doesn't go to Hot Topic."

"Well, how about if you let me go into Hot Topic, you don't have to pay me 15 drachmas. You only have to pay 13." Thalia bargained.

"6."

"11."

"8."

"10."

"Deal." They shook hands.

"Okay people! Let's go!" Thalia exclaimed happily. She immediately went to the back to find a few more Green Day shirts. Nico went to the left of the store and started to browse different skull shirts, and Percy just leaned against a wall and started to daydream.

**15 minutes later...**

"Percy! Look what I've got!" Thalia said excitedly.

Percy slowly looked at her shirts. He saw a Green Day shirt with the band name colored electric green in the middle, an orange electric guitar running along the right side of the shirt, and a bunch of multi-colored paint splatters for the background of the black shirt. Then he looked at the next shirt and saw that it had a Barbie doll being struck with bright yellow lightning that said, "If it ruins Barbies, it's cool."

He sighed. "How much, Thalia?"

"Well, if you buy both of them, it would cost about... hmm... I think $50."

Percy's eyes bulged. "50. DOLLARS! No, _No,_ and **_NO!_** That is a HUGE rip-off. Buy something that's _not _$50. How about, oh I don't know, something that's $15? That's more reasonable."

"Please? You don't have to pay me ANY drachmas. I'll even pay you 1 extra drachma." Thalia pleaded.

"Well... All right. Nico! Come on! We're going!" Percy yelled.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Nico grumbled.

Percy went up to the cash register and bought Thalia her shirts. He reasoned that it would be easier to pay with mortal money than drachmas, especially with his 'secret weapon' of mortal money. The trio exited the store and walked throughout the mall, looking for a store that Annabeth would like so they could buy her a gift card.

* * *

**_Okay, sorry sorry sorry for not updating. I've been planning a party, so I've been really busy. But here's chapter 4, at least. And if you want to be a character in this story, fill in this form:_**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

**_*Name:_**

**_*Age:_**

**_*Asian/European/American/etc:_**

**_*Skin color:_**

**_*Eye color:_**

**_*Hair color:_**

**_*Boy/Girl:_**

**_*Godly son/daughter of whom:_**

**_Height (Tall, medium, or short):_**

**_Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):_**

**_Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know):  
_**

**_So, answer the competition in your reviews. And just to let you know, the new character will stick around for a while, not just be introduced and leave. So it's almost like a main character. So... Review! I like reviews more than being put on the favorite stories list. Enjoy, and don't forget to tell me your birthday! I might make you a character in my next story if your birthday is close to one of my new stories!_**

**_Luna Rivera528_**


	5. Chapter 5: Shopping with Percy: Part 2

**_This is the second part of Shopping With Percy. I think I'm going to put the part where they find a gift for Annabeth. And as for one of the reviewers suggestions, they're a little young to get married, but I'll have Percy give her some jewelry for sure. You guys, tell me a jewelry story you want Percy to buy the necklace/bracelet/anklet/earrings in._**

**Chapter 5: Shopping With Percy Part 2**

"Hey Thalia?" Percy asked.

"Yeah?" Thalia responded.

"Do you know what store Annabeth likes?" Percy wanted to know.

"Uh, no?" Thalia said.

"Then how are we going to find a clothing store that she likes?" Percy exploded.

"Well, _excuse me_, but you _are _her boyfriend, and best friend, may I add, so... _You _should know her favorite clothing store." Thalia retorted.

"Yeah, real smooth, Percy." Nico snickered.

"Shut up." Percy mumbled. "If you don't have anything _helpful, _not _negative_ to say, shut up."

"_Soooorryyyyyy..."_ Nico said, "but at least _I _know what kind of store Annabeth likes. And I'm not even her boyfriend!"

"_What?" _Thalia and Percy shouted in unison, looking at Nico like he was crazy, "How do _you _know that?"

"One time, Annabeth dragged me to The Gap to look for something to wear. She said she wanted a 'male opinion that wasn't Percy's because he said she looked good in everything' and so that's why I was forced to go in there. She ended up buying a grey striped blouse and dark denim jeggings, if you're interested."

"Nico, that's perfect! You're a genius!" Percy said, "Now we can go the The Gap and get her a gift card!"

"Yeah, I know I'm one_. Now _do I still owe you $16?"

"Wow. You still can't let that go, can you?" Thalia commented.

"No_p_e." Nico said, popping the p. "So _do _I?"

"Can I say no?" Percy asked.

"Nah."

"Fine. Because of your _intelligence_," Percy said as Thalia snickered, "Not." "and your hard work," "kind-of" Thalia again. "Thalia, shut up!" Nico commanded. "Fine. Be that way." " I will." "and all of your nagging, I have decided to pay for your ride on the taxi." Percy completed.

"Thank you." Nico said. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Just go into The Gap and get Annabeth a gift card." Thalia said, shoving Nico into the store. "So how much do we get Annabeth, Percy?"

Percy mentally counted the money he had in his wallet. "About $50, I guess."

"Can I have some?" Nico asked.

"No."

"Please?" Nico pleaded, pulling out the puppy dog eyes, "Just 5 dollars?"

"Nico, if I don't fall for that anymore, then Percy never will." Thalia countered.

"Thalia, I'm trying to get money here! Close your mouth or else I'll resurrect a dead bird to fly into your mouth!"

"No you won't. I'm your girlfriend." Thalia said smugly.

"Yeah, a mean and irritating one." Nico mumbled to himself.

"I heard that!"

"I never said you didn't."

"How about..." Percy said dramatically, cutting the conversation short, "No."

Nico childishly stuck his tongue out. "Meanie."

"Your one to talk." Percy retorted.

"Am not!"

"That's a really suckish comeback, Nico." Thalia said.

"So?" Nico responded.

"So is that one." Percy added.

"Do you have a better one?" Nico asked sarcastically.

"Yes, actually."

"What is it, Everyone-Pick-On-Nico Day?" Nico demanded.

"Excuse me?" The sales lady said timidly, "But may I help you?"

"Oh! Yeah sure!" Percy said, surprised, not realizing that the trio had walked all the way to the counter. "Can I buy a gift card?"

"It's for his _giiiirrllfriieend_." Nico snickered, stretching out the word."He wuvs her _sooo _much."

"Nico, be quiet! Don't laugh at true love, as impossible as it seems that _Percy _found someone." Thalia chided, trying to be serious but failing and laughing uncontrollably at the end.

"Oh, thanks a lot, guys." Percy said sarcastically, shooting them a poisonous glare.

"So, how much would you like on it?" The timid sales lady asked. Percy noticed that her name was Tina.

"Well, I was _going _to put $50 on it and save 30 for my so-called friends' lunch, but now I'm going to put on $80." Percy said.

"What!" Nico and Thalia exclaimed together. "But we were only joking!" Nico completed.

"Yeah!" Thalia agreed.

"Too late." Percy said happily, grinning evilly, "At least I saved enough money for _my _lunch. Have fun looking at me eating food!"

"Percy!"

"I have an idea." Percy said out loud. Normally, Thalia would make a snarky comment, but she was hungry, and since _Percy _had money, she decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Why don't we, I mean _I, _eat lunch first, and then we can go to a jewelry store to get Annabeth something." Percy suggested.

"Sure, why not." Nico said cheerily.

_Easy for him to say. _Thalia thought sullenly. _All he has to do is summon some diamonds or gold or something to get something to eat, while I have to starve. Hey! Maybe I'll get Nico to buy me something! _Thalia cheered up at the thought.

"Okay, then! Let's go to the Food Court!" Thalia exclaimed. She noticed Percy shooting her a suspicious glance, and his hand strayed to his pocket. _Aha! Or I could just pickpocket Percy._

* * *

**_Okay folks, that's all for now! Sorry about the wait, don't forget to fill in the 'form' if you want to be a character in my story! Here's what to do/fill in:_**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

**_*Name:_**

**_*Age:_**

**_*Asian/European/American/etc:_**

**_*Skin color:_**

**_*Eye color:_**

**_*Hair color:_**

**_*Boy/Girl:_**

**_*Godly son/daughter of whom:_**

**_Height (Tall, medium, or short):_**

**_Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):_**

**_Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know):  
_**

**_So don't forget to fill this in in your reviews! ")_**

**_Luna Rivera528_**

**_P.S. It's my b-day 2day! Yay me! ")_**


	6. Chapter 6: Battling the Power of Pink

**_Once again, sorry about not updating. I had (and have) a lot of stuff to do. I have a Spanish Nation's project, Science Fair, a research paper for Science Fair, and a Chinese Spelling Bee. But... since it's a snow day, I have lots of time! Yay!_**

**Chapter 6 Eating Lunch with Percy and Battling the Power of Pink**

Thalia sighed, watching Percy eat a burrito. "Are you _sure _you won't forgive me?"

Percy looked extremely satisfied, and replied, "Yep! Anyway, I'm still hungry. Are _you _hungry, Thalia?"

"Yes." Thalia grumpily said.

"Well, _I'm _going to go buy a hamburger, no, make that a cheeseburger. If you had money, you could buy one too, you know." Percy smirked.

"Whatever." Thalia grumbled. She watched Percy saunter up to the counter and watched him order a cheeseburger. "Hey, Nico."

"What?" Nico asked, who was currently cursing Percy under his breath and staring sullenly at the wall.

"You know, we _could _pickpocket Percy. Do you wanna try?" Thalia said, raising an eyebrow.

Nico immediately started to smirk. "Sure. But how?"

"Oh, that's easy." Thalia answered, waving a hand dismissively. "All you have to do is shadow travel behind him and grab the wallet that will conveniently be halfway out of his pocket."

"And _how _are you going to make that happen?" Nico asked suspiciously.

"Watch and learn." With that, Thalia sent some of her power into mortal behind Percy, and Nico caught on. He raised a stone just in time for the mortal to trip and electricute Percy.

"Ow!" Percy exclaimed, whirling around to glare at the man behind him, "That hurt!"

"I'm sorry sir." the man said apologetically. When Percy turned back to the counter, Nico could see the wallet almost falling out. He quickly shadow traveled behind Percy, grabbed the wallet, and shadow traveled back.

"Perfect." Thalia said, grinning evilly, and Nico nodded his head in agreement. They watched as the cashier lady said, "Your total is $3.68, sir." Percy reached into his back pocket and grabbed at his wallet, which, wasn't there.

"That's funny." Percy murmured to himself, "Where is it?" He turned to the cashier and said, "I seem to have been missing my wallet. Sorry." And with that, he turned and walked away, the cashier glaring at his back.

"Hey, Thalia, Nico, do you guys know where my wallet is?" Percy asked suspiciously.

"Nope." Thalia said innocently, her eyes wide, "I have no idea."

"Hmmm..." Percu said, narrowing his eyes.

"Are you _sure _you brought it with you?" Nico asked, hiding his grin.

"No, _really _Nico." Percy said, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "That's how I got the Hot Topic shirts for Thalia and the Gap gift card."

"_Sorry._" Nico replied. "Just tryin' to help."

"I know, Nico." Percy sighed.

"Hey! I know!" Thalia exclaimed. "How about we see who can find the wallet! Whoever finds it gets to use it to buy lunch!"

Pery just gave her a look. "_Or _you could tell me where you put it, and _then, **if **_I get it back, I can buy everyone lunch."

"Who said I took it anyway?" Thalia asked.

"It's kinda obvious, Thalia." Nico remarked.

"Shut up!" Thalia whirled around and glared at him, "You were in this too! In fact, you're the one who _took _it anyway!"

"It was _your _plan." Nico reminded.

"Nico. I swear on the River Styx, if you don't shut up _now_, I will ask my father Zeus to curse you and you'll have lightning storms all around your head. And even if Father says 'no,' I'll make individual lightning storms that will curse you for 1 month. So _shut up!_" Thalia growled.

Nico groaned. "Not again."

* * *

"So. Where are we going _now_, Kelp Head?" Thalia asked grumpily, trying to ignore the rumbling in her stomach. Nico was so _stupid! _Didn't he know that Percy _wouldn't _buy them lunch when he got his wallet back?

"Well, I was thinking we could go to Tiffany's or something like that." Percy said sheepishly. "Besides, _you're _the girl."

"My stomach is making sounds because I'm so hungry. I can't think. Anyway, didn't we already have this conversation? Annabeth's my best friend, I'm a girl, you're her boyfriend, and Nico is an idiot."

"Hey!" Nico protested.

Thalia and Percy both ignored Nico. Percy said, "Well, since you don't know, why don't we go look at the directory? That'll give us some more choices."

"Whatever." Thalia decided. They finally found a directory and looked under the 'Jewelry Section.' "Okay, Percy, pick a few of these stores and we'll see if you can find something for Annabeth. We can go to D. Fiori, whatever that is, Maurice Jewelers, Satya Jewelry, or Swarovski. Take your pick."

"Uh, I guess we could try Swarovski, Satya, and Fiori." Percy suggested.

"Sure. Which one do we go to first?" Thalia asked.

"Uh, Fiori's closest, so let's go there first." Percy answered.

"Okay. Why not? Hurry up, Dead Boy." Thalia called back over her shoulder.

* * *

"Big mistake, big mistake." Percy muttered as he quickly walked out of Fiori. "I'm pretty sure Annabeth doesn't like pink." A few moments later and he heard Thalia and Nico run out the store as if their feet were on fire.

"Why did everything in that store have to be _pink?" _Thalia demanded, gasping for breath.

"I _know." _Nico said, in the same condition as Thalia.

"I'm gonna die, Nico, I'm gonna die. Draw your frickin' sword _now_." Thalia commanded.

"Wha- Oh, okay, no problem." Nico responded, and proceded to summon his black-as-nightmare sword. It seemed to draw the light from all the other objects and turn them into shadows. When Thalia saw the pitch black color, she relaxed, and calmed down.

"Thank the gods, I'm not going into extreme pink overload. I thought I was going to though." Thalia said, breathing deeply in and out.

"Why did that store have to have so much pink, anyway? Couldn't it have, like, something _black?" _Nico asked, shaking his head in bewilderment.

"I know right." Thalia responded. "I thought I would be driven insane."

"I know the feeling." Nico agreed, nodding his head.

Percy cleared his throat. "Um, guys? Can we go now? Or are you still recovering from all the pink in the store?" Percy teased.

"No, I'm ready. Coming, Nico?" Thalia exclaimed cheerfully.

"Ye_p." _Nico said, popping the 'p'.

"Well, where are we going?" Thalia asked.

"How about Satya's?" Percy suggested, "It's the closest."

"All right." Thalia said. "It's a cool name, but it better not be filled with _pink." _She said pink the way a Huntress would say 'boys.' She _did _used to be a Huntress, after all. The Lieutenant, in fact.

"What about you Nico?" Percy asked.

"Sounds good enough for me." Nico answered. "But I've got the same conditions as Thalia."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say." Percy mumbled to himself. He led the two blackoholics away from the pink store of doom.

* * *

**_So? What'd you think? The next chapters coming up and you get to see what Percy buys for Annabeth! Don't forget to review! Here are the details for the character competition:_**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

**_*Name:_**

**_*Age:_**

**_*Asian/European/American/etc:_**

**_*Skin color:_**

**_*Eye color:_**

**_*Hair color:_**

**_*Boy/Girl:_**

**_*Godly son/daughter of whom:_**

**_Height (Tall, medium, or short):_**

**_Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):_**

**_Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know):  
_**

**_So, answer the competition in your reviews. And just to let you know, the new character will stick around for a while, not just be introduced and leave. So it's almost like a main character. And when your reviewing, don't forget to review the story too! I need suggestions people. What does Percy buy for Annabeth? What store/jewelry shop? Oh, and the jewelry is not a ring. Sorry... but their a little too young for that right now. Maybe I'll do an epiloge and have him propose._**

**_P.S. I'm going for 10 reviews! If I get them all, I'll try to update quicker then ever!_**

**_Live, Laugh, Love, and Have Fun in the Snow!_**

**_Luna Rivera528_**


	7. Chapter 7: Annabeth's Gift

**_Okay Folks! Here's the new chapter! Have fun and R&R! Oh, and one more thing: Happy Birthday to percabeth lover28! ")_**

**Chapter 7: Annabeth's 'Gift'**

"You call that _close!" _Thalia yelled. "We have walked for _20 frickin' minutes, _and you say that that's _close!"_

"Do you really want an answer?" Percy asked timidly.

Thalia shot him a glare. "NO!"

"Okay."

"Thalia's right." Nico complained. "You're not supposed to call 'close' 20 minutes away. What I call 'close' is like, 5 minutes!"

"Sorry... It just looked a lot closer on the map." Percy said apologetically.

"You're such an idiot." Thalia groaned.

* * *

_"Finally." _Thalia said in relief. "I didn't know it would take 30 minutes to get to Satya's."

"Well, look on the bright side," Nico pointed out, "Swarovski is only 5 stores away."

Thalia and Percy stared at him like he was a lunatic. "Since when do _you _look on the bright side?" Percy asked incredulously.

Nico glared. "Since now." The three of them walked into the store, and immediately Percy felt that they wouldn't find anything for Annabeth there.

"Guys?" Percy offered.

"What?"

"Um, I'm pretty sure Annabeth doesn't like turquoise things." Percy finished.

"Well, you could give it a try." Thalia suggested.

"All right." Percy sighed in defeat. "But if I pick something out and Annabeth doesn't like it, I'm blaming you."

* * *

"Hey, Percy!" Nico called, "Annabeth likes silver, right?"

"Yeah..." Percy said suspiciously.

"Well, what about this?" Nico showed him a matching set of silver owls with sapphires as eyes and a long necklace of silver beads and owls painted in a pale blue color on top of the thick beads, with a turquoise stone between every few silver ones. "Do you think she'll like it?"

Percy studied the matching set of jewelry. "It looks really nice, Nico. I think I'll put it on hold and check out what Swarovski has first, though. Can you help me find Thalia?"

"Sure, why not?" Nico shrugged. "THALIA!"

"WHAT?" Thalia yelled back.

"GET OVER HERE **_RIGHT NOW!" _**Nico screamed back.

"I DON'T KNOW WHERE 'HERE' IS!"

"THEN GET YOUR *S* OVER TO THE CASH REGISTER!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!"

"**GUYS! SHUT UP!"** Percy bellowed.

"YOU SHUT UP!" They yelled in unison.

* * *

"Okay, can I put this on hold?" Percy asked, trying to to wince as he said it. His arm still hurt from when Thalia shot a lightning bolt at him.

"All right, how long would like that put on hold?" The salesman asked.

"Oh, for about 3 days, or so." Percy said casually.

"Very well." The man answered primly, his emerald green eyes glittering. "Then that'll be $5 per day."

"What?" Percy exclaimed. "That's a rip-off!"

"Yes, but still. Other people would like to buy that too, you know." The man said, raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever." Percy grumbled. He looked down to find his wallet until Nico yelled, "Percy! Take out Riptide!"

"What?"

"TAKE OUT RIPTIDE!"

"ALL RIGHT!"

"**RAAAWWWRRRRR!"**The previously emerald-eyed salesman had turned into the Nemean Lion.

"Oh, COME ON!" Percy shouted. "Didn't I already kill you?" It was the wrong thing to say. It only made the Lion roar louder and tried to attack him.

"Nico! Can you do anything about that?" Thalia yelled. "Like, suck out it's life force or something?"

"Are you kidding me?" Nico yelled back. "Do you know how tired that would make me?"

"It's either that or we die, Nico!" Percy added. "It's not that easy to-oof-to keep ducking-whoa!-the Nemean Lion!"

"Thalia! Can't you use your powers and strike it with lightning?" Nico retaliated.

"It's skin is impenetrable, stupid! This is not the time for arguing!" Thalia retorted.

"Fine! Then let's all pitch in!" Nico yelled again. "Percy use your frickin' water powers to strangle it, I'll keep it in place with the dead's hands, and Thalia, when it roars, shoot lightning bolts into its mouth!"

"Okay! Good plan!" Perct agreed.

"Ditto!" Thalia cried. "On the count of three-1.2. 3!" All three friends did what they were supposed to at the same time: Nico summoned the hands of the dead to lash out and hold the monster's feet, Thalia shot huge bolts of lightning into it's mouth every time it roared, and Percy burst the water pipes and turned the water into ropes that wrapped around the neck of the monster and started to slowly strangle it to death.

"Guys!" Thalia yelled in exhaustion, "I can't keep it up much longer!"

"Well, neither can we!" Percy responded, exasperated. "Just hang in there for a little longer, it's starting to die!"

"I don't know if I can, Percy!" Nico shouted. "Summoning the dead is not that easy!"

"Come on, guys, we can do this! If we fought Kronos, then we can defeat this stupid monster!" Percy encouraged.

"Percy, your chipper voice is _not _helping the situation here!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Seriously, guys? Even when we're about to die, we're gonna argue?" Nico yelled.

"Nico, shut up!"

Finally, the monster dissappeared in a swirl of dust, and the coat was left behind. It shrank into a jacket with golden accents. The three of them collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily.

"I hope, *deep breath* I never have to, *gasp* do that again." Thalia said between her sighs.

"Yeah." Nico agreed, "Me too."

"Hey, who's gonna keep the jacket?" Percy asked, sitting up suddenly. He and Thalia communicated with their eyes and simultaneously reached for the jacket. Thalia reached it first and said:

"Nico?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you wanna keep the jacket? It's bullet-proof."

"Sure. Thanks."

"Okay."

_Well. _Percy thought. _I'm never going to look at that jewelry set the same way again. If I buy it for Annabeth, that is. _Out loud, he said, "Okay, everyone ready to go?"

"Unnggg. I'm up, I'm up." Thalia grumbled.

"Coming." Nico said.

"All right then, let's all go to Swarovski."

* * *

"Wow." They all breathed, looking at all the delicate decorations and the elegant crystal.

"This is amazing." Thalia gasped.

"I've never seen so much crystal in my entire life." Percy added, his eyes as big as quarters.

"I have." Nico said. Thalia and Percy whirled around and faced him.

"You _have?"_ Thalia asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. My dad's in charge of all the minerals and stuff under the world, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." Percy said dumbly.

"Hello. May I help you?" A saleswoman asked sweetly. The trio exchanged looks.

"No." Nico replied flatly. "We're fine."

"Oh, all right." The woman said disappointed. Then she became chipper again. "I'll be there if you need me!" She pointed to the display cases of crystal animals and flowers. She turned and walked away. They exchanged looks again.

"Weird." Thalia proclaimed.

"Idiotic." Nico added.

"Stupid." Percy interjected.

"Well, let's all start looking!" Thalia said happily.

"Well, let's all stop acting all happy!" Nico mocked. "Ow!"

* * *

"It's perfect." Percy said, staring at the necklace. "Good choice, Thalia."

"She didn't have to shock me so hard." Nico grumbled.

"Yes she did." Thalia mocked him. "Oh, look, everyone stop being all happy. _OWW!"_ She started to laugh. "Real smooth, Nico."

"I don't sound like that." Nico muttered.

"_Anyyywwaaayyyy_," Percy said, breaking all the chances of an argument, "What does everyone think? Would Annabeth like this necklace or the set at Satya's better?"

"Well, the earrings were cute, but she already has a pair kinda like that, and the necklace..." Thalia trailed off. "So I guess the one here."

"Wow, you sure know how to pick, Thalia." Percy remarked. "This one is a lot more expensive."

"I know."

"I think this one is nicer too." Nico butted in. "It looks like something Annabeth would wear. I mean, it's delicate enough."

"Then I guess I'll buy this one." Percy sighed. "I just hope I have enough money." They all started to walk to the cashier.

"Hi, can I buy this?" He asked the lady at the cashier, a different one than the one earlier.

"Of course." She said snootily. "But you do know how much it costs, correct?"

"Yeah, of course." Percy said quickly. He mentally slapped himself.

"Well, your total comes to $115. Would you like to purchase the matching earrings?" The saleslady asked, bored.

"Um," Percy stuttered, and glanced at Thalia and Nico, who were nodding emphatically. "Sure."

"All right, then your total now comes to $230."

"Fine." Percy dug around for his wallet, and pulled out a card. The woman stared at it. "Swipe it." Percy invited. The woman did and her eyes widened when she saw the sign that came up on her cashier. The sign ∞ came up on the cash register. Her mouth dropped.

"Uh, here you go. Would you like it wrapped, er-Your Majesty?" she asked timidly.

"Yes. Can you also put it in a box?" Percy requested.

"Of course. Your Majesty. Would you two like me to get you anything? Perhaps something to drink, or something else from this store?" the woman asked, nodding at Thalia and Nico.

Thalia straightened up and opened her mouth, but Percy beat her to it. "That won't be necessary." he said. Thalia glared at him while Nico snickered.

"Thank you for coming to Swarovski, Your Majesty." The saleslady bowed.

"No problem." Percy answered, waving her away with his hand.

* * *

"Percy! Seriously? I wanted something to drink, and I'm hungry." Thalia whined.

"You shouldn't take advantage of people like that, Thalia." Percy reprimanded.

"Oh, yeah?" Thalia steamed. "Then why were you all 'No problem' and all royal-like, huh?"

"She's got a point, Percy." Nico added.

"See! Even Nico agrees with me, and _you **have **_believe me when I say he's pretty dumb, too."

"Hey!" Nico protested indignantly.

"True..." Percy pursed his lips until he looked like a fish. "All right, I'll buy you something to drink, happy?"

"Yep!"

* * *

"There. Quit complaining. " Percy said.

"mk." Thalia answered.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm really tired, and since luver boy here found his gifts...I'm going back to the apartment, Thalia." Nico told her.

"All right, I'll come too." Thalia answered and stretched. "Bye, Percy! Good luck with the present for Annabeth!"

"Thanks! See ya!" Percy yelled back.

* * *

_**Yeah, the endings lame, but I'm eating a brownie, and I can't really concentrate. I'll describe the necklace during the party scene.**_

_**I'll try to update soon, but only if I get 10 reviews.**_

_**Luna Rivera528**_


	8. 8: Shopping with Annabeth: Oh Joy

**_Okay, next chapter. Excited? What type of disasters do you think will happen with Nico, Thalia, and Annabeth? And, in case you didn't know, Nico and Thalia are dating. Can you tell Annabeth and Percy are? '`)_**

**Shopping With Annabeth. Oh Joy.**

'Ding dong, dong ding, dong ding dong' rang Annabeth's doorbell. She hurried to open her front door.

"Oh, hi guys!" Annabeth exclaimed, with a big smile on her face.

"Hi Annabeth!" Thalia replied, and gave her a hug.

"Hey Annie." Nico said in response.

"Don't call me Annie."

"Okay."

"SO." Thalia interrupted. "How's life? Oh, and how's Olympus?"

"Oh, it's great. I started to draw what you were describing, Thalia, and Artemis _loved _it. She said that you should feel free to join the Hunters again." Annabeth answered.

Nico put an arm protectively around Thalia. "Well, as you can see, Nico's not gonna let that happen." Thalia laughed. Then, seeing the worried look on Nico's face, she added, "Not that I'd want to." Nico's face relaxed.

"Well, Nico, if it makes you feel any better, she asked me to join, too." Annabeth said with a laugh.

"It doesn't." Nico scowled.

"Did you find out what Percy wants, Thalia?" Annabeth asked. "I have to buy him 2 gifts, one for his birthday and one for our anniversary."

"Well," Thalia hedged, "Not _exactly."_

"And why not?" Annabeth wondered.

"Because, well, because, it was Nico's fault!" Thalia burst out.

"_What?"_ Nico exclaimed. "How is it _my _fault?"

"That's for me to know and for you to figure out. If you can." Thalia added as an afterthought.

"I'm going to ignore that."

"I don't really care."

"_Okkaayyy." _Annabeth intervened, before this conversation could continue. "So, I'm going to take it that neither of you know what Percy wants, right?"

"Yeah." Nico said.

"Well, I _might _have an idea for the anniversary present." Thalia said.

"What is it?" Annabeth asked warily.

"Just make out with him or wear some lingerie or something." Thalia suggested. "It'll probably drive him crazy."

Annabeth's face turned fire-engine red. She gestured to Nico. "Thalia..." she warned in an tone that usually sent everyone to do what she wanted. "_Never _mention or say that again."

Thalia's eyes widened and she held her hands up in surrender. "Well, if you run out of ideas..." she let her voice trail off meaningfully.

"Any other, _reasonable _ideas?" Annabeth asked, shooting a look at Thalia.

"No_p_e." Nico said, popping the 'p.'

"Nico, you're a boy, what do boys like?" Thalia looked at him. "_The plan!" _she mouthed quickly.

"Oh, um, kisses, candy, girlfriends, etc." Nico answered.

"I give up." Annabeth groaned. "Let's just find a mall and go."

"You got it!" Thalia agreed cheerfully.

* * *

"Nico, are you _sure _we should go to this mall?" Annabeth wondered doubtfully.

"Yes." Nico responded, feigning hurt.

"All right then. Sir, can you bring us to Manhattan Mall, on Broadway at 33rd Street, please?" Annabeth requested. The taxi driver began to drive toward Manhattan Mall, and Thalia closed her eyes, trying to rest.

"Nico!" Thalia suddenly yelled.

"_Whhaaattt?" _Nico exclaimed. "What did I do?"

Thalia didn't dignify him with an answer. "That's it, Father? Can you please curse Nico for a month? I would do it but I did it last time. It's your turn. Please?" she whined to Zeus.

Thunder rumbled, and suddenly, all _three _of them had miniature lightning storms over their heads. "Oh, _COME ON!" _Nico yelled. "Really, Zeus? _Really?" _The lightning storms suddenly disappeared around Thalia and Annabeth's head, and they watched in amusement as the two of their previous lightning storms joined with Nico's and shocked him even harder.

"OW!" Nico screamed. "This is worse than last time! Not fair!"

"Life isn't fair, Nico." Thalia said smugly. "Get used to it."

"I hate you." Nico muttered. Thunder rumbled again, and suddenly, along with the lightning, there were raindrops on Nico's head as well. The two girls shrieked with laughter at poor Nico's misfortune, and because Thalia was Zeus's father and Annabeth was his grandaughter, (even though he was Zeus nephew) he couldn't do much, especially since Zeus preferred Thalia.

"You guys are so mean." Nico complained.

"Once again," Thalia retorted, "get used to it."

He stuck his tongue out.

* * *

**_All done! Enjoy! Details for the competition. Read the side note at the bottom. _**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

**_*Name:_**

**_*Age:_**

**_*Asian/European/American/etc:_**

**_*Skin color:_**

**_*Eye color:_**

**_*Hair color:_**

**_*Boy/Girl:_**

**_*Godly son/daughter of whom:_**

**_Height (Tall, medium, or short):_**

**_Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):_**

**_Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know):  
_**

**_Enjoy thinking up your character!_**

**_IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE (KINDA)_****_ February 3, 2011, was Chinese New Year! It is now the Year of the Rabbit. And, as I said to my relatives, (I'm Chinese, in case you didn't know) _**

**恭喜你,恭喜你!新年到, 恭喜你!**

_**Here's a little poem I made up, celebrating the Chinese New Year. If you speak Mandarin, you'll understand how it's a poem. It's not very good, but I made it up it 30 seconds, because I was bored. Enjoy!**_

**新年到!新年到! 看到很多大紅包!**

**_Here's how you pronounce it. (I think) It only rhymes in Mandarin, so I won't tell you what it means in English._**

**_Sing nian3 dow. Sing nian3 dow. Can4 dow hun3 dro ( light 'o' like 'on') da4 hong3 bow. ( like when the audience bows to us after a performance)_**

**_Have fun trying to say it! And I appreciate reviews, just for you to know. 'Hint hint.' JK. But I really do like reviews._**

**_Luna Rivera528_**


	9. Chapter 9: Finding a Gift for Percy

**_I've been sick for a while days, sorry about the wait. But without further ado, here it is! The next chapter! ") I've decided to update whenever I can. If I don't get enough reviews, I'm going to cancel the story. Sorry... but that's only if I don't get at least one review._**

**Chapter 9: Finding a Gift for Percy Part 1**

"Finally!" Nico gasped in relief. "Finally, I can get out of this blasted car and away from you guys! Oh come on! Ouch!" The lightning shocked him again.

"That's not very nice, Nico." Thalia reprimanded. "Even though it might me true!" She burst out laughing at Nico's hair, which was standing on end. Annabeth joined her.

"What's so funny?" Nico asked, ignoring Thalia's comment.

"Your, HAIR!" Annabeth managed in between laughs.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, blame Zeus or Thalia or whoever's in charge of lightning." Nico grumbled.

"Thank you, sir." Annabeth said at last, catching her breath. "How much?"

"$10, ma'am."

"Here you go. Thank you!" With that, Annabeth shut the door and led the trio inside.

* * *

"Do you think something like a heart with water would work?" Annabeth asked anxiously.

"Annabeth, don't worry. Just find something in a pawn shop. He won't mind, he loves you." Thalia reassured.

"I can't! What if he doesn't like it!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"He'll like it."

"Wanna bet?"

"Nico, you're not in this!"

"Who says?"

"I do!"

"I'll stay out of this if we play strip poker afterwards..." Nico weasled.

"Nico..." Annabeth warned.

"With Percy, of course." Nico added quickly, after seeing the murderous look in Annabeth's eyes. He looked at Thalia and noticed her eyes wore the same expression. He gulped.

"Or, we could just play ordinary poker with drachmas and mortal cash." Nico suggested. The fire in Thalia's eyes died down.

"All right." Thalia gave in.

"Thalia, I am not playing poker!"

"Please?"

"You're hopeless."

"I know!" Thalia said cheerily. "So, you'll play?"

"Yes." Annabeth sighed.

"Great!"

* * *

"Oh, Annabeth!" Thalia called.

"What?" Annabeth replied.

"Why don't you get Percy some seaweed? It would be pretty funny 'cause you _always _call him Seaweed Brain." Thalia told her.

"NO!" Annabeth quickly said, astonished. "That's a terrible present!"

"Well, get him the seaweed as an extra present. We could go to some Japanese store, you know?" Thalia suggested.

"Whatever."

Thalia smiled in triumph.

* * *

"Annabeth, I'm hungry." Nico complained.

"But we haven't found a present for Percy yet." Annabeth said.

"Annabeth, Nico's right. I'm hungry too, and I don't think that I can find something good if I'm starving to death." Thalia agreed.

"Well, where do you guys want go?" Annabeth sighed in defeat. Thalia and Nico looked at each other and silently communicated.

"Let's go to Mitsuwa!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Where?" Annabeth asked, confused.

"Mitsuwa! It's a Japanese market and restaurant. Plus, you can get Percy his seaweed there!" Thalia told her.

"Alright. Let's go." Annabeth finally said.

"Wait, what's with the seaweed?" Nico wondered aloud. The two girls exchanged looks.

"Inside thing." Annabeth and Thalia said in unison.

* * *

**_Geez! That chapter took so long! I kept adding to it, and taking parts away, and going to do something else, it took forever! Sorry about the wait, again. Don't forget to enter the character competition!_**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

**_*Name:_**

**_*Age:_**

**_*Asian/European/American/etc:_**

**_*Skin color:_**

**_*Eye color:_**

**_*Hair color:_**

**_*Boy/Girl:_**

**_*Godly son/daughter of whom:_**

**_Height (Tall, medium, or short):_**

**_Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):_**

**_Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know):_**

**_There you have it! Does anyone know what to get Percy? I'm trying to figure that out. I'm currently deciding between an ocean related statue, some different types of food, and/or a fishing pole. Can you guys add to the selection, please? Thanks. ")  
_**

**_Luna Rivera528_**


	10. Chapter 10: Nico Chokes

_**Chapter 10! R & R. Forgive me if it's been a long time since I've posted.**_

**Chapter 10: Nico Chokes**

"I'm _so _hungry." Nico moaned.

"Well, so am I, and you don't see _me _whining like a baby." Thalia snapped.

"Yeah, but you're like a snapping turtle." Nico mumbled quietly.

"What was that?" Thalia asked, glaring menacingly at Nico.

"Nothing." Nico replied sulkily.

"That's what I thought, _nothing." _Thalia shot back grumpily.

"She definitely is a snapping turtle." Nico whispered to himself. Thalia heard him and glared even more, if possible. She quickly sent a giant bolt of electricity into him, creating _another _miniature lightning storm.

"Ow!" Nico screamed shrilly. Thalia smiled smugly, the picture of satisfaction.

* * *

"I hate you."

"That's nice."

"I still hate you."

"Once again, that's nice."

"I'm hungry."

"And no one cares, Nico."

"_I _do!"

"Then you must be no one." Thalia retorted.

"Guys! Can you _please _stop bickering?" Annabeth said, annoyed.

"What?" Nico and Thalia stared at her in confusion.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "To bicker is to argue or disagree. It's very common, so I'm kinda surprised you guys don't know what it means."

"Well, I'm not exactly a walking dictionary like you, am I?" Thalia countered.

Annabeth rolled her eyes again while Nico snickered, "Not at all."

Thalia whirled on him. "Shut up!"

"Ma'am? We're here." The taxi driver said. "Your total comes to $6.50."

"Thank you very much." Annabeth answered.

"No, thank _you." _the taxi driver said.

* * *

"Okay, now that lunch is over, and Nico hasn't choked on anything _again, _let's look for the seaweed." Annabeth decided.

"When did you choke?" Thalia asked Nico.

"Oh, that's right, you were probably with the Hunters." Nico remembered.

"Thanks for clearing _that _up." Thalia said sarcastically.

"Huh? Oh, sorry! Well, it was during dinner...

* * *

Nico was sitting at his table after getting his lunch. He told his golden goblet, "Coke." Of course, the goblet filled to the brim with regular coke. He took a deep drink and let out a satisfied, "Aaahhh." He started to bite into his piece of pizza when suddenly Percy materialized in front of him. With his feet standing on the rest of his meal. Percy's feet accidentally kicked his drink. It spilled, a little onto Percy, but a lot onto Nico. "Dude, _NOT _cool!" Nico shouted.

"Sorry, man." Percy shrugged. "I'm still trying to master mist traveling."

Nico glared and felt uncomfortable, because the coke was drying and was making his clothes disgusting as well. "Could you at least use your damn water powers on me?"

"What?" Percy asked, confused. "Oh, sure." He punched Nico's shoulder as a 'friendly' greeting.

"Ow!" Nico yelled.

"Sorry." Percy didn't look apologetic. "Annabeth normally doesn't act like it's such a big deal. And besides, your dry now."

"Okay, first of all, I am not dry. The stupid coke already dried and now I have to change. And second of all, you took a freakin' dip in the River Styx! Of course if hurts!" Nico exclaimed.

"Well, have fun changing!" Percy waved and he stepped off the table effortlessly, waving to Annabeth. Sometimes, Nico really hated Percy.

**15 minutes later...**

Nico made his way back to the dining pavilion, and to his relief, almost everyone had already left. Unfortunetely, he caught two people doing something unexpected.

"Guys! Get a room!" he shouted, his hands in front of his face. "I have virgin eyes, thank you very much!"

Annabeth and Percy separated almost instantly, looking embarrassed.

"Geez, Nico." Percy said, pissed. Annabeth looked quite angry too.

"Well, _excuuuse me_ for being innocent." Nico held up his hands.

"You? _Innocent? _Ha ha ha ha ha!" Percy started laughing.

"What Seaweed Brain is _trying _to say," Annabeth began, "Is that you're the son of Hades. You're _not _innocent. And as Thalia would have said, 'evil practically runs through your veins.' Sorry Nico."

Nico pouted and went to get the leftovers at the serving bar, while Percy and Annabeth began whispering.

"What're you saying?" Nico asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Percy said cheerily.

Nico sat down at his table and began eating. Suddenly, Percy vanished. Nico yelped. "Where'd he go?" He asked.

"I don't know." Annabeth shrugged.

"_Yeah right." _Nico thought.

But as he was thinking this, Percy reappeared and snuck behind him. When he was one step away from Nico, he took something put of his pocket. Something pink. And fuzzy. A Son of Hades's worst nightmare.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Nico screamed shrilly.

Percy fell on the floor, doubled up with hysterical laughter. Annabeth was smarter, and sat down before laughing.

Nico began choking. He couldn't get any air up or down his windpipe, and he started to sputter.

Annabeth wiped the tears of mirth off of her cheeks and asked, "Are you okay, Nico?"

Nico glared. She noticed he was able to get off the daughter of Aphrodite's beauty mask.

"He's alright." Percy said. "He's just trying to get attention."

Nico finally recovered. "F**K YOU, Perseus Jackson." He stomped away.

"Tough crowd." Percy remarked.

* * *

"So now you know." Annabeth finished.

Thalia started to laugh while Nico pouted. "Nico job, Annabeth."

"You're supposed to be on _my _side, not hers." NIco grumbled.

"Well, guess what. I'm not." Thalia retorted.

"Oh, come on guys." Annabeth sighed. "Let's go find some seaweed for the Seaweed Brain."

* * *

_**Sorry for the super-long wait. But the good news is that science fair is over. I did my project on chromatography, which is basically the separation of colors. I got 2nd, but I'm so glad it's over. Do you know how long it takes to find a Biblical Application for chromatography? Forever. Good thing school's almost over. I can post more stories! ") But remember, I still have to do two schools, Chinese School and American School. Plus, I'm competing against more state in piano soon. "(**_

_**Help!**_

**_Review!_**

**_Plus, don't forget to fill in the character form!_**

**_Luna Rivera528_**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

**_*Name:_**

**_*Age:_**

**_*Asian/European/American/etc:_**

**_*Skin color:_**

**_*Eye color:_**

**_*Hair color:_**

**_*Boy/Girl:_**

**_*Godly son/daughter of whom:_**

**_Height (Tall, medium, or short):_**

**_Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):_**

**_Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know):  
_**

**_So, answer the competition in your reviews. And just to let you know, the new character will stick around for a while, not just be introduced and leave. So it's almost like a main character. And when your reviewing, don't forget to review the story too!_**


	11. Chapter' 11: FYI

_**Hey Guys! Here's some FYI:**_

_**Okay, I know I haven't updated on like 3 months, and I'm really sorry. Plus, I know I said I'd update during Spring Break. Well... I'm gonna have to go back on that. I've decided to postpone the story for a while, and complete it over the summer. On the bright side, I will update it every week during the summer. But... if you can change my mind, I'll start updating it during the school year again. How can you change my mind? Um, reviews. Duh. And I will post the character form on this A/N so you can continually submit new characters you want me to put in my story, because I will complete this story. Don't worry. Meanwhile, I'll make some little fanfic stories around the year, considering when I have inspiration if you guys can't convince me to finish the story over the school year. **_

_**Here's another little survey:**_

_**What type of fanfic should I do now? I'll do whichever one has the most votes. Here are your choices:**_

**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

**Mulan (Disney)**

**Artemis Fowl**

**The Karate Kid (2010 version)**

**Chronicles of Narnia**

**Aladdin (Disney)**

**Fablehaven**

**The Clique**

**Peter Pan (Disney)**

_**So, vote on whichever one you want me to do my first new fanfic on, 'k? Oh, and in case you couldn't tell, I decided to revisit my childhood favorites. ") I remember them and am totally obsessed right now. I go over a little stage of fads; if I get interested into something, I become totally obsessed. For a while. Then, it fades away. "( But oh well! At least I'm trying to write more stories! ")**_

_**Here is the survey for the character competition:**_

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

***Name:**

***Age:**

***Asian/European/American/etc:**

***Skin color:**

***Eye color:**

***Hair color:**

***Boy/Girl:**

***Godly son/daughter of whom:**

**Height (Tall, medium, or short):**

**Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):**

**Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know):  
**

**_So, answer the competition in your reviews. And just to let you know, the new character will stick around for a while, not just be introduced and leave. So it's almost like a main character. And when your reviewing, don't forget to review the story too! Happy reading! ")_**

**_Luna Rivera528_**

**_P.S. I am marking this story as complete for now, so that more people get to read it. Don't worry, I'll take it off the complete section when I start to work on it again._**


	12. 12: Disappearances and Glowing Seaweed

**_Ok, I know that I've been MIA for like, the last few months, and I'm really really sorry. But I just found out my dad has cancer, and it's been really complicated. And I know that I said that I would write a couple of short stories, but...yeah. Same reason. But now, without further ado, here's the next chapter! ")_**

**Disappearances and Glowing Seaweed**

"Um, guys? Where's the seaweed section?" Annabeth asked.

"You mean there's a whole section dedicated to seaweed? Wow! The things you learn!" Nico exclaimed.

"Oh my gods, Nico, you're such an _**idiot!"** _Thalia shook her head.

"Well, it's not like I frequent Japanese stores a lot." Nico retorted.

"I'm surprised you even know what 'frequented' means!"

"Shut up, Thalia!"

"Make me."

"Oh, I'll make you, Thalia," Annabeth threatened, "I'll make you sorry if you don't **shut up!** Now, help me find the seaweed aisle!"

Nico smirked.

Thalia glared at both of them, but didn't say anything.

* * *

"Excuse me, ma'am!" Annabeth called out sweetly, "Do you know where the aisle for seaweed is?"

The saleswoman said something in Japanese.

"What? Speak in English, we do live in America, and it's kind of obvious that none of us are Japanese." Nico commented.

The saleswoman rolled her eyes, and pointed her finger to a bakery.

"Oh. Okay! Thanks!" Annabeth said toward her retreating figure.

"I don't think she heard you."

"Oh, shut up."

"I'm shutting up."

* * *

"Finally!" Annabeth exclaimed. "Is it really that much to ask to find the aisle with seaweed?"

"Apparently." Thalia snickered. She seemed to have recovered her sarcasm.

"Ha! I told you they had a whole aisle dedicated to seaweed!" Nico stuck out his tongue childishly.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, **I'm not Japanese!"** Thalia retorted.

Annabeth sighed. These two were giving her a migrane.

"Um, Annabeth?" Nico asked. "Is seaweed _supposed_ to be glowing?"

"Well, duh, idiot! If they sell it while it's glowing, than it probably is supposed to be glowing." Thalia smirked.

"First of all, my name is not idiot." Nico responded.

"Yes, it is."

"No, it isn't."

"Is."

"Isn't."

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"On my birth certificate, it says my name is Nico Di Angelo."

"It must be messed up. A typo."

"I don't think so."

"I do."

"I doubt it."

"How do you even know what 'doubt' means?"

"I heard it on T.V."

"Whatever. You're not worth arguing with."

"Then why do you argue with me every 10 seconds."

"I do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"You're doing it right now."

"No, I'm not. I'm just proving a point."

"Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that, Thalia."

"I wi- Hey, where's Annabeth?"

"I think she left."

"No, really, Nico. I mean, _where _did she go?"

"You should have been clearer." Nico grumbled.

"Nico! Come _on! _Let's go find her!"

"No."

"Jerk."

"Thank you." Nico smiled, smug.

"If you do, I'll give you a reward later." Thalia bribed.

"All right." Nico relented. "Let's try going left."

* * *

**_Ta Da! I know it was basically just a bunch of arguing, but did you enjoy it? I'll try to update again, soon, but I have a girls' basketball camp going on. For like, a week. Then I'm going to a different camp. And FYI, I'm probably going to go MIA again soon. We're taking my dad to Mayo Clinic, Minnesota for treatment/another appointment._**

**_Please Review!_**

**_Luna Rivera528_**

**_Here are the character competition details:_**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

***Name:**

***Age:**

***Asian/European/American/etc:**

***Skin color:**

***Eye color:**

***Hair color:**

***Boy/Girl:**

***Godly son/daughter of whom:**

**Height (Tall, medium, or short):**

**Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):**

**Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know):  
**

**_So, answer the competition in your reviews. And just to let you know, the new character will stick around for a while, not just be introduced and leave. So it's almost like a main character. And when your reviewing, don't forget to review the story too! Enjoy! And please, once again, review!_**

**_P.S. One more thing. I have now put the story back on the incomplete list._**


	13. Chapter 13: Where's Annabeth?

**_Hi guys! Well, I looked online today, and I found out that no one reviewed my story for chapter 12. So I'm all sad now, and if you could, please review this chapter, and maybe chapter 12 too. Please? Thanks guys, you're the best. ")_**

**Where's Annabeth?**

"Nico, we've been walking around for 3 hours. I don't think Annabeth went this way." Thalia whined.

"Well, we don't have any better leads, do we? I say we just buy some seaweed and get something to eat." Nico proposed.

"All right." Thalia sighed in defeat. "Let's go."

* * *

"Annabeth? Is that you?" Nico asked incrediculously.

"_No." _Annabeth answered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm a blonde robot."

"Hardy har har." Nico laughed sarcastically. "Where were you? Me and Thalia have been searching for you for hours!"

Annabeth checked her watch. "It's only been 10 minutes." she said dryly.

"Oh." Nico stood there, feeling stupid.

He was glad when Thalia chimed in, asking, "No, seriously, where were you the whole time?"

"I was trying to figure out the differences between all the different types of seaweed." Annabeth replied, puzzled.

"Any luck?" Thalia asked.

"Nope. Everything's in Japanese, and it's hard enough to read plain English."

"Hey! Why don't we try asking a saleslady!" Nico said excitedly. "They know Japanese, right?"

Thalia sighed. "Nico, unless you want a repeat about what happened when we last tried to talk to a salelady, I don't think that's gonna work."

"Well, it was a good idea anyway." Nico shrugged.

"You know what? I'm just going to close my eyes and point to a random bag of seaweed." Annabeth decided.

Thalia and Nico stared at her blankly while she put her hand on her eyes spun around three times, and pointed to a pouch full of... _dried salted seaweed?"_

"Um, Annabeth?" Nico asked carefully.

"Uh huh?" she answered, uncovering her eyes and picking up the seaweed pouch.

"Why is the seaweed dried and salted?"

"I actually don't know."

Thalia gasped in surprise. "Annabeth Chase doesn't know something? But it isn't even 2012 yet! We can't have another apocalypse! We barely avoided the last one!"

Annabeth gave her a dirty look.

Thalia just glanced away and announced, "All right, let's pay for the seaweed now. I"m hungry."

"When are you not hungry?"

Thalia glared at Nico. "Are you saying I'm fat?"

"Um..." Nico hesitated for the briefest second and... "OUCH! THALIA! WHY DID YOU PUNCH ME!"

Thalia looked smug. "You deserved it."

Annabeth quickly broke in before Thalia and Nico's bickering could turn into a full out fight. "All right guys, let's just go."

* * *

**Ta da! Yay! Finally! I just got back from my trip, so I decided to post this.**

**Please review! **

**Luna Rivera528**

**P.S. Here are the contest details:**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

***Name:**

***Age:**

***Asian/European/American/etc:**

***Skin color:**

***Eye color:**

***Hair color:**

***Boy/Girl:**

***Godly son/daughter of whom:**

**Height (Tall, medium, or short):**

**Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):**

**Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know):  
**


	14. Chapter 14: What are you doing here?

_**Alright! I'm back! This is the chapter you have all been waiting for. The chapter where you will find out the winners of the character competition. Oh, the suspense is killing me! Enjoy chapter 14! And don't forget to review. FYI, read the AN at the end, or else you may miss out on something very important.**_

**What are _you_ doing here?**

Nico was rubbing his thrice punched shoulder. "Ow, Thalia." He complained again, "Did you really have to punch that hard? Next time, I'm wearing a padded shoulder pad."

Thalia smirked, but kept walking toward the food court. "Ooo look! They have Greek food! Classy!"

Annabeth was impressed. "Wow. How many food courts actually have Greek food?"

"I know right!" Thalia exclaimed. "That is so cool! Now if only they had flat screen tv's." She added as an afterthought.

Annabeth looked at Thalia like she was crazy. "Why would they have flat screens in _a food court_?" She asked incrediculously.

Thalia shrugged. "I dunno, McDonalds has it."

"She's right." Nico piped out. "I've seen them, when, you know..." He trailed off, and a moody look was on his face.

Annabeth and Thalia exchanged glances.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

All three of them swung around to stare at... a boy and a girl?

Thalia's face broke out into a big grin. "Hey! Great to see you guys again! So, Dana, quit the Huntresses? How could you?"

The girl replied sarcastically, "Well, when I saw you quit, and decided to run after you and kill you, but I met this guy instead. _Kidding." _she added. "Of course I quit! And," She added, "It _was _kinda your fault that I quit, anyway."

"Wait." Nico stepped in, looking bewildered. "Who _are _you two?"

"I'm Dana." The girl said.

"And I'm Jack." The boy answered. "Jack Taylor. And you must be Nico Di Angelo! Thalia's told us all about her new emo-boyfriend."

Nico glared, first at Jack, then at Thalia.

"What?" Thalia shrugged. "It was either that or have Dana asking me about my sex life. But if you prefer..."

"No!" Nico shouted quickly, causing heads to swivel around to look at their group. "No." He said more quietly, "I don't have a problem with it anymore. Just, did I have to be _emo? _I mean, couldn't you have said something else?"

"Blame Dana." Thalia indicated. "It was _her _fault."

Dana smiled sheepishly, and Jack put an arm around her. "I just wanted to know the details of your relationship, that's all."

Annabeth watched all the talking without saying anything. She studied both the newcomers very closely. Dana was slightly tanned, with dark chestnut brown eyes that were almond shaped, and had dark brown hair with an electric blue streak in it. She guessed that Dana was probably Asian, considering her features. Jack on the other hand, looked very different. He was around the same height and was slightly tanned as well, but that was were the similarities ended. He had blue eyes and very light brown hair, most likely European. If he was a demigod, she would have guessed that he was a child of Hermes, considering his elfish features and crooked smile.

She elbowed Thalia and asked quietly, "Are they both demi-gods?"

"Yeah." Thalia responded.

Annabeth smiled. She waited for Jack to finish talking and asked the couple, "What are your godly parents?"

"Son of Hermes." said Jack. Annabeth nodded. She had already figured that out. _But who was Dana's?_

"I'm a daughter of Khione." Dana said heavily. Annabeth gaped.

"You're a daughter of _Khione? _The _snow _goddess?" Annabeth asked incrediculously.

Dana made a face. "Yeah. I'm not really a big fan of her though, so I joined the Huntresses and met Thalia. When she quit, I was really depressed, but then Thalia would still Iris-message me."

Thalia smirked. "What can I say? I'm a nice person."

Nico choked. "_You're _a nice person? Huh. I would hate to see a mean person then."

Thalia's smile faded a bit, and she grabbed her glass of water and poured it over Nico. "Oops. Sorry." Thalia apologized, not looking the least bit sorry.

Nico scowled at her and crossed his arms, refusing to look at her.

Dana shook her head and chuckled, as if this were the sort of thing that happened every day. "Anyway, one day, Thalia shows up with a random guy. She was like, "Hi Dana! I want you to meet someone!" and introduced me to Jack. The rest is history." She smiled contentedly.

"So you quit?" Annabeth asked.

"I quit." Dana nodded. "It was getting kinda boring after a while, anyway. I mean, sure, the 'You will be Immortal' thing was tempting in the beginning, but if immortality meant the rest of your life was spent hunting and camping forever, well..." she shrugged. "Needless to say, it wasn't that great anymore."

"Plus you'd have to give up me. "Jack interjected.

"Yeah, but the question is, would that really be that much of a loss?" Dana teased.

"Hey!" Jack said indignantly.

Dana smacked him lightly. "Aw, you know that I'm just joking."

"Yeah, I know." Jack smirked.

"Can you say egotistical?" laughed Dana.

"Excuse me?" Jack questioned, pretending to be insulted.

"You're excused." Thalia broke in. "Now, I hate to break up this lovebird's quarrel, but since I haven't seen both of you in ,like, forever..." she trailed off.

"You're right." shrugged Jack. "So, Nico. Do I have to give you the big brother talk?"

"Uh, no." Nico said. "I already got that from Jason. Believe me, it was not fun, especially since this was coming from a guy who is younger than me. Plus I can't even beat him up, or else Thalia would kill me!" Nico finished this statement off with a pout.

"Quit pouting, Nico. It doesn't suit you." Thalia said.

"It's true!"

"No comment."

"I won this round."

"No comment."

"I still won this round."

"I repeat, no comment."

"But no comment means that you lost, so I-"

"NICO! I SAID, 'NO COMMENT!'"

"Sorry."

Dana and Jack watched all this amusedly, but Annabeth just sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Aaannnnnyyyywaaay," Dana said, drawing out the word, "Jack and I got to go now. We're kinda supposed to be shopping for my little sister."

Thalia brightened up considerably. "Oooh! Her birthday?" she asked.

"Yep." sighed Jack mournfully. "And unfortunately, her current favorite color is pink. I thought that maybe her green phase would last a little longer, but... No dice."

Nico smirked. "Sucks to be you, man."

"And don't I know it."

"So I guess we'll see you later, 'k?" Dana redirected the conversation.

"Yeah." Thalia sighed. "It was nice seeing you guys."

"Ditto."

"Same."

"Bye Nico! Bye Thalia! Bye Annabeth!" Dana called, staring to drag Jack away.

"Yeah, bye!" Jack yelled. "And hey, Thalia!" he stopped for a second. "Keep in touch, all right?"

"You got it!" Thalia hollered. "Bye!"

"Bye!" repeated Annabeth and Nico in unison.

* * *

"That was cool, meeting up with your friends like that." Annabeth remarked thoughtfully after Dana and Jack left.

"It's true, they were pretty great." Nico put in. "Maybe we could see a movie sometime. With Percy, of course." he quickly added.

"Sure, that'd be cool." Thalia nodded. "I'll call them sometime soon, 'k? Then we could schedule a time."

"Triple date!" Nico cheered.

Annabeth and Thalia both rolled their eyes. "Um, no."

* * *

_**Oh my God. I am so sorry it took so long for me to complete the chapter. I swear, it should not have taken me that long, only I had so much work, I just didn't have the time to add anything. But on the bright side, at least you guys saw two new characters added! Congratulations to both **DeeDee123** and **Sidno** for their winning characters. As you can see, I didn't exactly use the 'friend of' thing, but the character submissions were really great.**_

_**But don't fret, people. I am not done with using submitted characters yet. I will add more in the chapters to come.**_

**_Hope you liked this chapter as much as you all liked the past ones._**

**_Enjoy! (As always! ")_**

**_Luna Rivera528_**

**_P.S. I will still be posting my character competition sheet, and you do still get the chance to submit more of them. This contest is not over yet! So keep it up with the amazing imaginations, people!_**

**_P.P.S. I will be taking yet another trip soon. I won't tell you the exact date, (in case any of you guys are stalkers. Just joking! Don't pout!) but soon there will be a time when I won't write for a long time. Actually, for two long times. Maybe three. Sorry!_**

**_P.P.P.S (Is there even such thing as P.P.P.S.?) Here is the character competition sheet!_**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

***Name:**

***Age:**

***Asian/European/American/etc:**

***Skin color:**

***Eye color:**

***Hair color:**

***Boy/Girl:**

***Godly son/daughter of whom:**

**Height (Tall, medium, or short):**

**Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):**

**Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know): **


	15. Chapter 15 Prelude Special

**_I'm Back! Did you miss me? I was on a trip to Wisconsin Dells, sorry. But here's Chapter 15, or if I don't finish it today, a preview to Chapter 15. No need to thank me. ")_**

**Dude, You Have Really Bad Timing**

"Well, they seemed nice." Annabeth offered.

"Yeah, and slightly weird, which would explain why they're Thalia's friends." Nico scoffed.

"Hey!" Thalia indignantly said. "Thank you Annabeth, and Nico..." She looked straight at him and just turned away.

"_Yes?" _Nico prompted.

No answer. Then...

"Did you hear something?"

"What?" Annabeth asked, confused.

"Did you hear something, like just now?" Thalia rephrased.

"Um, I'm not really sure what you're talking about."

**_Ok, I'm really sorry that I couldn't write more, but I have to go out now. At least you have a bit of a prelude though! ")_**

**_Feel free to check out my profile, and continue to enter in my character contest. BTW, you can enter more than once; I give everyone a fair chance, even if they've already entered._**

**_I would also like to recommend a site for those fans who like to look at pics about your favorite characters. Go enter the words . It's really really good. I just discovered it when I was on You Tube looking up some videos that my friends told me to look at._**

**_Here's the contest!_**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

***Name:**

***Age:**

***Asian/European/American/etc:**

***Skin color:**

***Eye color:**

***Hair color:**

***Boy/Girl:**

***Godly son/daughter of whom:**

**Height (Tall, medium, or short):**

**Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):**

**Friend of (Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, or Percy that the others don't know): **

_**Okay, Enjoy! And maybe, if you review more, I might be prompted to write more of this story faster. Just a hint. ")**_

_**Luna Rivera528 signing off.**_


	16. Chapter 15 continued

**_OK, don't scream at me. I know i've kinda been MIA for a while, but i was extremely busy and I just came back from Hong Kong. It was amazing! I loved it. I used to go there a lot, but I haven't been there in like 5 yrs, so I"m really glad that I revisited it. Anyway, here's the continuation of Chapter 15. _**

**_BTW, read my AN at the bottom when this chapter ends. It's important, it has to do with reviewing._**

**Dude, You Have Really Bad Timing**

"Well, they seemed nice." Annabeth offered.

"Yeah, and slightly weird, which would explain why they're Thalia's friends." Nico scoffed.

"Hey!" Thalia indignantly said. "Thank you Annabeth, and Nico..." She looked straight at him and just turned away.

"_Yes?" _Nico prompted.

No answer. Then...

"Did you hear something?"

"What?" Annabeth asked, confused.

"Did you hear something, like just now?" Thalia rephrased.

"Um, I'm not really sure what you're talking about."

"You know what, never mind." Thalia snapped.

"Ok, honestly Thalia, what is wrong with you?" Nico yelled. "Why are you always so uptight?"

"Uptight?" Thalia screamed back. "How am I uptight?"

"You always have to be such a control freak! Seriously Thalia, you need to chill sometimes! Not everyone is as perfect as your little Huntresses were!"

"What does that have to do with anything? Nico, honestly! If you really want to see the problem, just look in the mirror! Or better yet, look in the ocean! Maybe you'll slip and drown, and I'll never have to deal with you again!"

Nico stood back with a shocked expression on his face when Thalia realized what she said.

"Nico, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"What?" Nico interrupted sharply. "Didn't mean it? Isn't that what you always say? You mean _everything _you say, Thalia, and I'm not gonna sit around and listen to your wimpy excuses about how _'you didn't mean it.'_ Just leave me the fuck alone Thalia." And with that, Nico stalked off.

Annabeth took one look at Thalia's 'deer-in-the-headlights' expression. "Thalia," she asked hesitantly, "are you alright?"

Thalia sniffed a little. "Does it look like I'm alright?" she demanded, trying hard not to cry. "My boyfriend just broke up with me, and the worst thing is, is that I know that it's all my fault."

"Ok, maybe not," Annabeth admitted, "but I kinda understand why you're both feeling the pressure here. You guys don't normally fight _this _much, but for some reason, today you guys were _both_ pretty uptight."

Thalia looked up, and Annabeth suddenly realized just how much Thalia had liked Nico. She wasn't _crying_, but her eyes were different. They seemed flatter, not as vibrant as usual. They looked dead. "No." Thalia said. "No, you _don't _know why we're so uptight. I'm sorry Annabeth, but I can't tell you why we're so weird today, but-" Thalia just shook her head.

"Don't worry, it's okay, Thalia." Annabeth said soothingly. "Here, I'll take you back to your flat."

* * *

Nico was upset. No, he was furious! He had stormed out of the mall and out into the bushes, where he proceded to shadow-travel back to his flat. He then proceeded to smash a plate that was still at the sink from that morning.

"Fuck." He muttered as he stepped on a piece of broken glass. "My life is screwed."

_Ding Dong_

"Gods!" Nico cursed as he went to open the door. "Could this day get any worse?"

"Hey man!" Percy exclaimed. "What's up? You're lookin down," he observed.

"Oh, really?" Nico answered sarcastically. "Well, if _your_ girlfriend decided to break up with you, wouldn't your day be screwed up?"

"Well-"

"And then, if you managed to break a glass plate and cut yourself on the pieces, wouldn't your day get a lot worse?"

"Um-"

"And if it just so happened that one of your idiot friends decided to ring the feckin' doorbell when you're trying to put on a band-aid, wouldn't you be pretty pissed?"

"I-"

"Exactly. Now what could you _possibly_ want now?"

"Geez. I come over for a little advice, and this is what I get? I really need to get some new friends."

NIco could feel himself getting worked up again. "WHAT THE HADES DO YOU WANT, PERCY?"

"Um, never mind." Percy shrank back. "I'll talk to you later." _When you're not as upset._ He added mentally.

"Then get out!"

"Okay okay! I'm going!" Percy paused just as he was opening the door. "Wait, you and Thalia broke up?"

_Smash!_

Percy reopened the door that he used to shield himself from the blown glass vase that was thrown at him. "Hope you feel better! I'm sure you just misunderstood!" He quickly shut the door and ran down the sidewalk to talk to Annabeth.

Nico glared at the solid mahogany door that was now shut. Instead of cleaning the rest of the glass shards up, he just limped over to the bathroom to put a band-aid on his foot, and collapsed on his couch in exhaustion.

* * *

_**So? I know, I know, I made them break up! Gasp! What's going to happen?**_

**_Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know that there's kinda rough language in it, and if you guys want me to, I'll change the rating to M. But I won't put in any sex scenes. I mean, I might imply it, but I don't think I'll describe it. _**

**_IMPORTANT! I am planning on reviewing in 1-2 weeks. HOWEVER! The time when I review depends on you. For every review I get, I will bring my review day closer by 1 day! Consider it my Christmas gift to you. Maybe I'll even post 2 chapters!_**

**_Contest details are below:_**

**_YOU MUST FILL IN THE ONE'S WITH STARS:_**

***Name:**

***Age:**

***Asian/European/American/etc:**

***Skin color:**

***Eye color:**

***Hair color:**

***Boy/Girl:**

***Godly son/daughter of whom:**

**Height (Tall, medium, or short):**

**Characteristics (Funny, neat-freak, nice, sarcastic, fashionista, tomboy, etc.):**

**Please read my author's notes. They take time to write.**

**LUNA RIVERA528 IS FLYING AROUND THE WORLD! BYE! ")**


	17. Chapter 16: What's Her Problem?

_**I'm back! I had the best time on my vaca, skiing and rock climbing. Btw, the rock climbing was indoors. Best fun ever! But now my muscles are really sore. Oh well. It was so much fun, I'm doing it again next year. I wonder where I'll travel... Hmmm... Maybe Europe?**_

**What's _her_ Problem?**

_Ding Dong Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong_

"Hello?" Annabeth opened the door.

Thalia was standing there, looking upset.

"Hey." She sniffed. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Annabeth opened the door wider. "How're you doing?"

"Fine."

"Thalia, I know that's not true." Annabeth chided.

"Then why'd you ask?" Thalia exploded, but then checked herself. "Sorry, I'm a little... messed up."

"Don't worry about it." Annabeth soothed. "Do you want something to eat?"

Thalia nodded her head almost imperceptively.

"Here, hold on. I'll grab some cookies."

_Ding Dong Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong_

_"_Hello?" Annabeth said as she reopened the door.

"Hey Annabeth." Percy smiled at her. "What's up?"

"Oh," she glanced over her shoulder, "Thalia and Nico broke up, and Thalia's over right now crying about it."

"Yeah, I know. About how they broke up." Percy clarified.

"Wait, how'd you know?" Annabeth asked.

"I went over to Nico's place yesterday, and he threw some stuff at me. I think his door's probably broken now." Percy said, trying to crack a joke.

"Percy, don't joke about this." Annabeth scolded. "Thalia's really distraught."

Percy scratched his head. "Why do you insist on using words that I don't understand?"

"Oh my gods." Annabeth rolled her eyes and left the door open for Percy. "Just come in. Do you want some cookies?"

"Yeah. Duh." Percy grinned. "Can I have a cup of milk too?"

Annabeth shook her head, but laughed. "All right."

"Yes!" Percy cheered.

"You're such a dork."

"Hey!"

* * *

"Oooh, who made these cookies. They're really good." Percy commented.

Annabeth looked at him skeptically. "I bought them from the supermarket."

"Oh. Whoops." Percy smiled sheepishly.

"Thalia, chill out. I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding." Annabeth soothed.

Thalia continued staring into space.

"Yeah," Percy agreed, munching a cookie, "Nico's just being a jerk right now. Besides, if it makes you feel any better, he almost attacked me yesterday." he tried.

Annabeth sighed. "Percy, really? This is not the time for stupid, immature jokes."

"Geez." Percy pouted. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

"Yeah, well stop trying." Annabeth retorted. "Thalia, don't worry. It's not your fault."

"Yes it is." Thalia croaked. "You heard him. He meant it."

"No he didn't!" Annabeth cried, exasperated. "He didn't mean it. I was there. He was just stressed out. In fact, both of you guys were." Annabeth added as a second thought.

"Mm hm." Percy nodded. "You guys were pretty uptight too, earlier this week."

Annabeth looked confused. "Wait, you were with them this week too? Where were you?"

"At the mall." Percy said.

"Why?" Annabeth asked.

"Because- Wait. Why do you want to know?" Percy stopped himself.

"Because we went to the mall too-we met up with a few of Thalia's friends at the food court. We decided to stop there for lunch." Annabeth replied after some quick thinking.

"Oh. Really? That's what we did too." Percy said slowly.

"You met up with Thalia's friends?" Annabeth asked skeptically.

"No." Percy rolled his eyes. "We ate lunch at the food court."

"Really. Why would you do- You know what, it doesn't matter. That's not important. Thalia, don't be upset. Just give Nico some time. He'll come around." Annabeth reassured.

"Yeah." Percy agreed. _Phew. That was close._

Thalia nodded. "I'll go now." she said quietly. She started to get up.

"Wait!" Annabeth said quickly. "Why don't you stay with me tonight? That way, we can catch up." she offered.

"Hey, can I stay too?" Percy asked slyly.

"No!" Annabeth insisted.

"You're such a killjoy."

Annabeth ignored him. "What do you say?" she said to Thalia.

"Sure." Thalia said glumly.

"Great! If you want, we could go shopping. At Hot Topic!" Annabeth tried.

"Maybe later." Thalia plopped back down on the couch.

"Okay, I'm gonna take that as the signal to go." Percy began to walk over to the door.

"You know what? I think I'll come with you." Annabeth decided. "I need to do something anyway. And what better way to do it than to do it with my boyfriend." she grinned at Percy.

"Cool." Percy smiled. "Where're we going?"

"You'll see. Thalia, I'll see you soon, okay?" Annabeth called.

"Yep." Thalia said in a monotone. "See ya."

"Bye Thalia." Percy waved. "See you soon, 'k? Hey Annabeth, we aren't going shopping are we? Like, not legit shopping, right?"

"You'll have to wait and see." Annabeth sing-songed.

"Why shopping? Why not, I don't know, arcading?"

"Is arcading even a word?" Annabeth looked at him."

"It should be."

"Oh my gods. You are absolutely hopeless." she told him.

"Thank you. Hopeless _is _my middle name, after all."

"I say it again. You are such a dork."

_**Ta Da! Done. Thanks to RAHbooks. The only one who reviewed chapter 15, so I'm reviewing one day earlier. Good job! ")**_

_**Anyway, I would like to give you guys a little preview to chapter 16. Don't forget to read the AN at the very bottom, okay? Thanks, you guys are great. **_

**What's**_** his **_**problem?**

"So. Where are we going?" Percy asked again.

"You're not going to give up, are you?" Annabeth asked exasperately.

"Nope. Where are we going?"

"I give up. We're going to Nico's place."

"Are you serious! Not cool! I don't want to get hit by glass!" Percy exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm serious. Come on, Percy. Please? I need to find out if Nico's as miserable as Thalia." Annabeth explained.

"Wow. Nice. _'I want to find out if Nico's as miserable as Thalia.' _Talk about heartless."

Annabeth punched him. "I want to see if he actually meant what he said. I didn't mean that I _wanted _him to be as miserable as Thalia."

"You should have been clearer." Percy muttered.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked sharply.

"Nothing." Percy smiled nervously.

"Good."

"So violent."

"Oh, shut up."

"I'm just saying."

"And I'm telling you to shut up. Am I clear?"

"Crystal!" Percy quickly said. They resumed walking. "Murky crystal." Percy grumbled under his breath.

_**There. Your preview to chapter 16. You guys should be very happy. ") It's gonna be my birthday soon! It's gonna be my birthday soon! Yay! I'm just excited. Christmas was great, and I can't wait for the New Year! Go 2012! 2012 is the year where like a bunch of books in the multiple series I'm reading come out. Plus a bunch of good movies too. Can't wait!**_

_**btw, I've decided not to post the contest details on my chapters anymore. Takes too much time. So if you want to submit a character, you'll have to get the details from previous chapters.**_

_**Please review. Your reviews make me happy. Being happy is good, and it encourages me to keep writing. Your reviews are the things that keep me from abandoning the story, no matter how busy I am.**_

_**Luna Rivera528 smiling.**_


	18. Chapter 17: Hopeless

_**Hello! I'm back! I'm actually writing this in school, because they allowed internet access in the compu lab for a short time period. Good news! I've finished with my entrance exam into a school, so now all I'm doing is waiting to see if I got in or not. So I am now updating, and I'm considering writing a story for HP. But right now, I'm just continuing this story. My first extremely long one.**_

_**On a side note, I'm letting everyone know that it is sandra ayala (SP?) birthday! Congrats! I am dedicating this chapter to her. ")**_

**Hopeless**

"So. Where are we going?" Percy asked again.

"You're not going to give up, are you?" Annabeth asked exasperately.

"Nope. Where are we going?"

"I give up. We're going to Nico's place."

"Are you serious! Not cool! I don't want to get hit by glass!" Percy exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm serious. Come on, Percy. Please? I need to find out if Nico's as miserable as Thalia." Annabeth explained.

"Wow. Nice. _'I want to find out if Nico's as miserable as Thalia.' _Talk about heartless."

Annabeth punched him. "I want to see if he actually meant what he said. I didn't mean that I _wanted _him to be as miserable as Thalia."

"You should have been clearer." Percy muttered.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked sharply.

"Nothing." Percy smiled nervously.

"Good."

"So violent."

"Oh, shut up."

"I'm just saying."

"And I'm telling you to shut up. Am I clear?"

"Crystal!" Percy quickly said. They resumed walking. "Murky crystal." Percy grumbled under his breath.

* * *

"Well," Annabeth broke the silence. "here we are."

"At Death's door." Percy added.

Annabeth shot him a glare. "Just stop."

"All right." Percy acquiesed. "I'm just a little nervous. I mean, last time I was over here, I almost died!"

Annabeth sighed. "You couldn't die even if you wanted to. Remember? Achilles's curse?"

"I meant hypothetically!" Percy shot back. "Any idiot could see that."

"Are you calling me an idiot?" Annabeth's eyes flashed.

"No," Percy backtracked, "of course not. It was, um, another expression! Yeah!" he agreed with himself.

Annabeth shook her head, but just decided to ignore him.

_Ding Ding Ding Dong_

No answer.

"Try again."

"It didn't work the first time, what makes you think that it'll work again!" Percy argued.

"Just try it." Annabeth said.

"Fine." Percy sighed long sufferingly.

_Ding Ding Ding Dong_

"Still no answer!" Percy sang.

Annabeth ignored him and marched up to the door. "NICO DI ANGELO, OPEN UP THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

No answer.

Annabeth heaved a sigh. "Please, Nico, we only want to help you. I promise Percy won't be an idiot and disregard your story as something stupid!" she called.

Nothing. Absolute silence. Then:

"Percy, shut up!"

"What?" he asked innocently. "What did I do?"

"You're eating a candy bar!" Annabeth shouted. "How can you think about _candy_ at a time like this?"

"Easy!" Pecy shrugged. "You just think you want something sweet, and you remember you have candy in your pocket, and boom! You eat the candy!"

Annabeth covered her face with her hands. "I give up. My boyfriend is an idiot." she said, her voice muffled by her hands.

* * *

**_TADA! I'm done! I"m in computers class again, so I finished this story, mainly cause I'm bored. So, I know this isn't what you were expecting, but hopefully my next chapter will be up soon!"_**

**_Contest details are in the previous chapters._**

**_Lun Rivera528_**


	19. Chapter 18: What to do?

_**Hello! I have computers again! That means another update! **_

_**Now, I know that I have the character competition, but I have decided to add a new competition to this story. I am aware that the story title is horrible, so I will give my amazing reviewers the chance to come up with a new title! The person who comes up with the winning story title will get the credit for it, I promise, and if I like it enough, I will ask them to submit a character that I will use in the story! The new contest details are at the AN on the bottom. Sorry the chapter's a little short.**_

**What to do, What to do?**

"Annabeth?" Percy asked hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Just be quiet."

"Okay."

Silence.

"Um, Annabeth?"

Annabeth heaved a sigh. "What now?"

"Um..." Percy searched his mind, trying to find something intelligent to say.

A sigh. "Please, don't interrupt me unless you have something intelligent to say." Ananbeth requested. "I'm thinking."

"Okay."

Nothing.

"So what're you thinking about?" Percy asked.

Annabeth gave him a skeptical look. "_That's_ your intelligent question?"

"Um, yes?"

"No."

* * *

Thalia moped around at Annabeth's house. She wasn't really sure about what to do, but she knew she couldn't be depressed forever. She needed to be strong, to regain control of her life. All she had to do was remember what she did with her life _before _Nico. Unfortunately, that had to do with being a Huntress, and she wasn't willing to go that far yet. But for now... she'd help herself to Annabeth's gourmet chocolate chip cookies.

* * *

"Annabeth?"

"Yes?"

"Um, are you done thinking yet?"

"Keep waiting."

"But what do I do?" Percy whined. "I'm bored, and my girlfriend is being mean to me!"

Annabeth barely spared him a glance. "Percy, try not to sound so much like a child. It's really annoying."

... "Hey! I'm not childish!"

"I rest my case."

* * *

Nico actually _had _heard Annabeth and Percy at the door; he just chose not to open it. All they would do was just annoy them even more, and he was _not _in the mood for that. If they pushed him too far, well, he wasn't really sure if he could control his anger. But what could he do? He _was _the one who had broken up with Thalia, after all.

* * *

"Percy?"

"Oh! You're talking to me?" Percy feigned surprise.

"Yes. At least when I have a question."

"I feel so wanted."

"Percy?"

"Yes?"

"Do you have any ideas of what to do with Nico and Thalia?"

"Can I get back to you on that?"

"So that's a no."

* * *

_**Yeah, I know. It was kind of a filler chapter, but I am currently being annoyed by a person in my class. HELP! **_

_**I also am kind of stuck on what to write next. This wasn't exactly what I planned for the story to be, but I sort of had a few great (in my opinion) ideas along the way. So, long story short, I have been hit by the horrible disease of writer's block.**_

_**So, if any of you reviewers have any ideas of what happens next, feel free to share!**_

_**BTW, here are the contest details for the new title.**_

_***It must have something to do with the story,**_

_***It can NOT be something extremely stupid or offensive.**_

_***I would like it to be creative.**_

_***If you can, maybe make it something people will want to look at and read.**_

_****Make sure to include a made up character that you want me to put in the story.**_

_**There you go! Anyone interested can post it in their reviews! ")**_

_**Oh! And 1 more thing, I just made a facebook, so if you want to discuss the story farther with me, just search (the name is made up, in case you're wondering) Tehanu Kohaku. You know what to do from there.**_

_**Luna Rivera528**_


	20. Chapter 19: What a Great Day!

_**The only time I can update is when I finish everything in computers, so that's what I"m trying to do now. ;)**_

**What an Amazing Day! Sorta.**

Percy woke up to a loud knocking on his door. "What is it?" he called.

The knocking continued, but no answer.

"Who is it?"

_Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock_

"You wanna answer?"

_Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock_

_"_WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

_Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock_

Percy jumped up, raced to the door and flung it open, mouth opening to hurl abuse. At least until he saw who it was.

"Annabeth?"

* * *

"So you woke up and opened the door without checking who it was?" Annabeth asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"I did ask."

"You asked the door?"

"No!" Percy blushed. "I yelled at the _person_ at the door, not the _actual _door."

"Ohhhhh," Annabeth nodded, "that makes perfect sense."

Percy sighed. "Annabeth, can I go change into actual clothes before we start trying to cheer up Thalia and Nico?"

"Why'd you wake up so late?"

"It's not late! It's only 8:30!"

"Late."

"I give up."

* * *

Annabeth stood at the bottom of the staircase, peering at the floor above her. "Are you done yet?"

"No!" Percy shouted.

"Percy," Annabeth pointed out patiently, "I've been waiting here for 20 minutes. I'm a girl, and I can get dressed faster than this."

"I took a shower!"

"As son of the sea god, shouldn't that mean you can take a shower faster?"

"Not when the water feels so great!"

Ananbeth sighed. "Just hurry up, will you?"

"Patience is a virtue!"

"I've been patient. I've gone beyond the limits of being patient. So _hurry up!"_

"Okay, okay, I'm hurrying."

"You better." Annabeth mumbled to herself.

* * *

"Annabeth?"

"Yes?"

"Are you hungry?"

"No. Because unlike someone I know, I ate breakfast before coming outside."

"I didn't really have the chance, because _you _were pushing me to hurry up!"

"Well _excuse me _for not being a lazy butt!"

"What-"

"Let's just forget about it. Come on. We can drop by McDonald's." Ananbeth cut in.

Percy shook his head. Sometimes, his girlfriend had the weirdest mood swings. Were all girls this difficult?

* * *

"Finally. Talk about a long line." Annabeth said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm starving!" Percy agreed.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You're _always _starving, Percy."

"Hey! This time I have an excuse!"

Annabeth raised her eybrow. She had been doing that a lot lately. "You have no excuse."

"Waking me up early without giving me time to eat is an excuse!" Percy argued.

"Whatever. Let's just order."

* * *

"Better?" Annabeth asked.

"Much." Percy answered, chewing his food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!"

Percy swallowed, then took another bite. "Yes, mom."

Annabeth twitched. "Percy," she began, slowly and dangerously, "do that again, and I will personally whip your ass."

"Whatever."

"PERCY!"

"_AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"_

Well, the people in the city who saw that definitely had an interesting sight to see.

* * *

"Way to hit me, Annabeth." Percy groused, rubbing his sore head.

"Oh, don't be a baby. You're invulnerable, remember?"

"My day has been ruined."

"Oh, boo hoo. Get over it. I told you what would happen if you kept talking with your mouth full."

"I didn't think you'd actually go through with it!"

"Well, now you know."

"Thanks a lot."

"Anytime. You know that we still need to go cheer up Thalia and Nico, right?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

"If one of them tries to murder me, can I use you as a shield?"

"NO!"

"Just a suggestion."

"Let's just go."

* * *

The door looked bleak, unforgiving, dark. "Are you sure we have to go through with this?"

"Yes, Percy." Annabeth sighed. "We're going to cheer Nico up now, so stop whining!"

"But what if I die?"

"You won't die." Annabeth reassured. "Quit being so melodramatic."

"Could you _please _use words that I know?"

"Quit being such a baby."

"Okay, on second thought, I like melodramatic better."

* * *

_**Okay, that took three computer periods. Sorry it's been so long, but I've been sick for a while. So if it's bad, remember that my nose is all stuffed up and my head is all fuzzy. Here's the title competition details!**_

_***It must have something to do with the story,**_

_***It can NOT be something extremely stupid or offensive.**_

_***I would like it to be creative.**_

_***If you can, maybe make it something people will want to look at and read.**_

_****Make sure to include a made up character that you want me to put in the story.**_

_**There you go! Anyone interested can post it in their reviews! ")**_

_**So, feel free to review! Can't wait till summer; I'll make sure to update more!**_

_**Luna Rivera528**_


	21. Chapter 20: What Could Go Wrong?

_**I've been told I haven't updated for a while, and I felt really bad. Sorry! Sometimes, I just need to take a break, you know what I mean? Anyway, here's what I've got for you! ")**_

**What Could Possibly Go Wrong?**

"I can't believe you talked me into this." Percy stated, staring at the door.

"Oh, just knock on the door, already." Annabeth said exasperatedly.

"Alright alright... If I get out of this, you owe me a blueberry milkshake." Percy warned.

Annabeth huffed. "First of all, no, because you'll definetely come out of there. And second of all, Nico's your friend! Help him out!"

"I'll help him out when he stops thinking murderous thoughts about me."

"Fine. If you too scared to knock on the door, I'll do it."

_Knock Knock_

"Well, looks like he's not here. Time to go!" Percy exclaimed in relief, starting rush away from Nico's door.

"Not so fast!" Annabeth reached out and caught Percy's shirt, preventing him from running away from the door of his nightmares. "Just wait a little longer. Maybe I'll try again."

_Knock Knock _

"See! He isn't there! So let's just go, and come back later!" Percy quickly suggested.

"If he's not home, then why are the lights on?" Annabeth asked wryly.

"Um... he's tricking thieves?"

_Sigh. _"Just be patient."

* * *

"Annabeth, we've been waiting for hours. I'm pretty sure he's not home, and I'm not just saying that anymore." Percy said peevishly.

"Fine, maybe you're right." Annabeth conceded.

Percy heaved a sigh. One potential disaster avoided.

* * *

"Okay, time to try Thalia's." Annabeth began, dragging Percy back to were Thalia was staying.

"Wait wait wait wait wait!" Percy stopped. "Maybe it's a sign from the gods that we shouldn't disturb them. You know, let them work it out themselves."

"Don't be stupid. What could go wrong?" Annabeth restarted walking briskly.

Percy was left staring at her retreating figure. "A lot of things." he muttered under his breath, hurrying to catch up.

* * *

"What if she's not here either?" Percy asked nervously.

"Then we'll go out to lunch, and then try again." Annabeth said without a beat.

Percy sagged his shoulders. "Is there _no _way to make you mind your own business?"

"No." Annabeth turned to him. "These are our _friends_, Percy. We should help them feel better."

"Maybe we should let them work it out alone." Percy tried again.

_Knock Knock Knock_

"Thalia, I know you're in there!"

_Knock Knock Knock_

"Come on, Thalia, open the door!"

"THALIA!"

"She's not gonna open the door." Percy observed.

"Oh shut up. Why don't _you _try?" Annabeth challenged.

"No thanks. I'll pass."

Annabeth threw her hands up in frustration. "Let's just go."

"Great!" Percy brightened. "Let's go to McDonald's! Maybe we'll find Nico there! Oh wait..." he trailed off, realizing what he had said.

"Hey! You might be right!" Annabeth exclaimed enthusiastically. "All right!"

Percy groaned. "Me and my big mouth."

* * *

_**And there is my update. You're welcome! Please review and try to think of a title for my story! Thanks! ")**_

_**Contest details are below, of course.**_

_***It must have something to do with the story,**_

_***It can NOT be something extremely stupid or offensive.**_

_***I would like it to be creative.**_

_***If you can, maybe make it something people will want to look at and read.**_

_**Interested persons can post in reviews! Please do!**_

_**Luna Rivera528**_

_**P.S. Don't forget, you can still submit characters for the story! The details are in previous chapters though.**_


	22. Chapter 21: A Sudden Encounter

_**I'm back! This is like the last time I can update in class (cuz I graduating of course!) so I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry, it seems like I've strayed from the original plot, but whatever!**_

_**You know what, screw what I wrote about updating in class earlier. I obviously couldn't finish, so I'm finishing now. Hehe, sorry bout the wait!**_

**A Sudden Encounter**

"Off we go to McDonald's then." Percy sighed. "At least we can eat something before trying again."

"Good idea!" Annabeth agreed.

* * *

"I just feel bad for the both of them." Annabeth was saying. "I mean, it took forever for them to convince Zeus to let them be. And I know that they really liked each other too!"

Percy just nodded, chewing his burger.

"And I really don't see why they broke up," Annabeth continued. "because it really wasn't _that _bad. Sure they got into a really bad argument, but every relationship has its problems."

Percy took another big bite out of his burger and continued to eat."

"Honestly! Don't they understand that-" she broke off and saw Percy just nodding off into space. "Percy! Are you even paying attention?"

"Huh? Oh yeah." Percy snapped back into reality.

"Oh really?" Annabeth looked at him skeptically. "Then what was I saying?"

"Um... hold on, let me think for a minute..." Percy's eyebrows creased.

"You know what? Forget it." Annabeth snapped, and started biting her chicken nuggets with a vengeance.

* * *

"Annabeth?" Percy tried cautiously, trying to break the silence.

"What?" Annabeth snapped.

"Um, nevermind."

"That's what I thought.

* * *

_10 minutes later_

"You know what? I'm done." Annabeth stood up suddenly, and began to throw her stuff away.

"Wait, Annabeth! I'm really sorry for not listening to you, but-" Annabeth held up a hand, silencing him.

"Don't worry about it, Percy." Annabeth forced a smile. "I'm really tired anyway, and I want to see how Thalia is doing. Just check in on Nico if you have time, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. No problem." Percy watched her quickly walk away.

"Well, you suck." Someone said behind him. Percy jumped in surprise, then whirled around. Behind him stood Jack.

"Jack?" Percy asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know," Jack waved one hand carelessly, "I'm just trying to get some lunch, but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation with Annabeth."

"Eavesdrop much?"

"Oh hush. You're hardly in the position to critisize me, considering how you can't even have a decent conversation with your girlfriend. I mean, at least I can do _that."_

"I can have a decent conversation with her!" Percy said defensively. "This is just one of my, uh, moments! We all have bad days!"

"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that."

"Hey!"

"Sorry." Jack apologized. "But seriously dude, conversation is key. It's important to pay attention to what another person is saying to you, even if it seems boring. And if you want to get _anywhere _with your relationship and don't want to just be stuck there, you're going to have to work on your communication skills. Think about it. Has Annabeth ever brushed off what you were saying?"

"Well, " Percy began, "there was this one time when-no, nevermind, that wasn't her. Or when we were at a restau-oh wait, that wasn't her either. But hey!" Percy added defensively, after seeing Jack look at him skeptically, "She's a child of Athena! Of _course _she doesn't space out!"

"Percy, let me put it to you this way. A relationship is like a car: as long as there is enough in common between you two, or otherwise known as gas," Jack began, "then the relationship will keep moving farther and farther from where it started out, like a car. But if there's no gas, then the car will just stay still. "

"How does that relate?"

Jack sighed. "Just let me finish. Then, you can stay in that car as long as you want, but if there's no gas, it won't move forward. Just like a relationship. Annabeth's smart. She knows that if something isn't working out, then there's no point of continuing the same process. I'll leave it to you to figure out how to solve this problem."

Percy stared at him. "When did you get so smart?"

"Percy, despite what you may think," Jack placed a hand on Percy's shoulder in a brotherly manner, "a lot of people are smarter than you. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're _smart_."

Percy shook Jack's hand off and glared at him. "Hey! Watch it, knucklehead!"

"A minute ago you were just saying that I was smart." Jack pointed out. "And now you're saying that I'm stupid? Are you bipolar?"

"Ha-freakin'-ha. Hilarious."

"Well I gotta run. See ya around, Percy. And remember my advice!" Jack called as he left McDonald's.

"Huh. Never would have thought that that guy would have good relationship advice. But, I guess he's gotta be good for something." Percy mused. "Now all I have to do is figure out how to make it up to Annabeth. Normally, she's not this uptight, but I guess that her nerves must be driving her crazy because of Thalia and Nico. Wait." Percy looked around sheepishly. "Why am I talking to myself?"

* * *

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." Annabeth fumed. "He always drives me insane when he's like this! What is his problem? It's not that I ramble too much anyway! And he should understand that I'm just trying to help out Thalia and Nico. Is he such an insensitive jerk that he doesn't even get that?"

She stormed down the sidewalk toward her apartment and stopped when she was in front of her door. "Okay, calm down Annabeth." She told herself. "The last thing Thalia needs is for you to be in a bad mood."

"Thalia!" She knocked on the door and rang the doorbell. "I'm coming in!" She took out her key and let herself in. She peeked into the corner of her living room, and found Thalia still lying there. "Oh, Thalia. Are you feeling better?"

Thalia shrugged her shoulders.

_Well, at least that's an improvement._

"Do you want something to eat?"

Thalia slowly shook her head.

"Oh come on, Thalia! You have to eat _something _if you want to feel better." Annabeth urged.

No answer.

_Back to normal. _Annabeth thought, depressed. "Well, all right. Here, I'll go grab you some blankets and a pillow. Would you mind sleeping here?"

Quietly, Thalia whispered, "No, I feel fine. This is a good spot."

"Okay, I'm going to sleep after I grab you something." Annabeth glanced at Thalia concernedly.

Thalia slowly nodded her head.

"Well, goodnight!"

"'Night." Thalia said softly, watching Annabeth walk to her bedroom. "Goodnight, Nico. I'm sorry." she said to the empty air.

* * *

Nico tossed and turned in his bed. He was still angry for sure, but his anger had died down slightly. Now, it was only his stubborness that kept him self-righteously angry. "Thalia," Nico said to the darkness of his bedroom, "I'm sorry. It wasn't all you, it was my fault too. I shouldn't have been so hasty." Then he sighed, and rolled over. "Now if only I could say that to her."

* * *

_**What'd y'all think? I checked back in to Thalia and Nico, because I didn't want to get carried away. Now, my goal is to finish this story and start on a different one in a completely different series kinda thing. Let's all hope I can finish this summer! Feel free to review! Please! **_

_***It must have something to do with the story,**_

_***It can NOT be something extremely stupid or offensive.**_

_***I would like it to be creative.**_

_***If you can, maybe make it something people will want to look at and read.**_

_****Make sure to include a made up character that you want me to put in the story.**_

_**There you go! Anyone interested can post it in their reviews! ")**_

**_So, try to give me some ideas for a title guys. That would be the best. Thanks a million!_**

**_Luna Rivera528_**


	23. Chapter 22: When the Guys are Away

_**Wow. Thanks for reviewing guys. I really appreciate you guys taking the time out to review my story, because that really means a lot to me. Aww, you guys are so great! I love you all!**_

**When the Guys are Away...**

After being woken up by her alarm clock, Annabeth sat up in bed and stretched, yawning blearily. _Maybe I should try and cheer Thalia up. __I know! Pancakes! Or waffles! And sausage! And bacon! Oh, Hades, just make it a full breakfast._ She made her way down to her kitchen and started cooking.

Meanwhile, Thalia woke up sniffing the air. _Wow, something smells good, and I feel a little better, almost like something's been resolved. _She followed her nose to Annabeth's kitchen.

Annabeth turned around hearing the noise. "Hey, Thalia! Good morning!"

"Morning." Thalia said, rubbing her eyes.

"How're you feeling?" Annabeth asked. "A little better?"

"Yeah." Thalia admitted. "Still a little down, though."

"Well... don't worry. Here." she slid a plate of scrambled eggs, pancakes and sausage and bacon over to a surprised Thalia. "Eat."

"Okay."

After a few minutes in silence, Annabeth said, "You know what?"

"What?"

"We should have a girls day, all to ourselves. And we could invite the other girls from camp too!"

"That'd be fun," Thalia mused, "but won't they be pretty busy?"

"Well," Annabeth smiled encouragingly, glad to see Thalia almost back to normal, "let's hope that they're all free! I'll go call them."

"Okay!" She did feel a little lighter this morning, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

* * *

"Okay," Annabeth began as she came back, "I got Clarisse, Katie, and," she grimaced, "Rachel."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't mind Rachel anymore."

"I don't, it's just that," Annabeth sighed, "old habits are hard to break, you know? And I feel a little bad for being so mean to her, when she never really was a threat."

"Yeah, I get it." Thalia nodded. " How about Dana? It'd be great to catch up, and to introduce her to all the other gals."

"Oh, you're right! I almost forget. What's her number again?" Annabeth asked, picking up a pad of paper.

"Uh, hold on, let me check me phone." Thalia smiled sheepishly.

Annabeth shook her head and laughed.

"Okay! I found it!" Thalia said quickly. "630-306-8242."

"Wow, Thalia," Annabeth teased, "you sure know how to keep in touch, _especially_ by remembering their number."

"Oh, ha ha." Thalia retorted, her face not embarrassed at all, "I bet you didn't know Clarisse's number by heart either."

"Actually, I did."

"Katie's?"

"Memorized."

"Damn." Thalia cursed. "Rachel?" She tried hesitantly.

"I may not like her, but I know her number."

"Well, that's different! You're a daughter of Athena; of course you know everyone's number!"

"...I guess you right." Annabeth admitted after a short pause.

"Finally!" Thalia threw her hands up in the air. "She realizes it!"

"Funny. We're going ice skating, so eat and bring some money."

"Why ice skating?"

"I don't really know. It just kind of popped up in my head. Oh, and dress in jeans, but bring a pair of shorts, because we'll do something afterward." Annabeth advised. "Like I said before, bring money."

"Okay, okay, I gotcha."

* * *

"Are we the first ones here?" Thalia asked, peering around her. "I don't see them yet."

"We're a little early, so probably." Annabeth said. "Hey, is that Katie?"

"Where?"

"Over there, near the snack bar."

"Annabeth, there are about 20 people near the snack bar. How about giving me a description?"

"She's your friend too, can't you recognize her?"

"It's been a while!" Thalia defended.

Annabeth sighed, but secretly was glad that Thalia felt better. "Sierra hair in a ponytail. Green short sleeves and camo-cargos."

"Who says sierra?"

"I do. Do you see her?"

"Wait a minute..." Thalia scanned the people. "Hey! That _is _her! Hey, Katie! KATIE!" She yelled, not caring about the stares she was getting.

Annabeth covered Thalia's mouth with her hand. "Are you insane?" she hissed. "Why don't we just walk up to her and say hi, like _normal _people?"

"I was _trying _to save us some time."

"You obviously failed. Let's go." Annabeth dragged Thalia over to the Katie look-a-like.

Thalia tapped the girl on her shoulder. "Um, excuse me."

The girl turned around. "Oh, hey Thalia!" She smiled. "How're you doing, Annabeth?"

"Katie! It _is _you!" Annabeth exclaimed. "I'm doing great, but how's Travis?"

Katie blushed. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play coy!" Thalia shoved Katie playfully. "We know everything. So, how is he?"

"He's great. I really think that it's going to work out. How's Percy and Nico?"

Thalia and Annabeth exchanged glances. "Um," Annabeth began, "we're all on a break from each other."

"Wait what?" Katie asked, shocked.

"Hey!" Thalia realized. "What happened between you and Percy?"

"I'll tell you guys later."

"But I want to know _now_!" Thalia pouted.

"Excuse me! I'm so completely out of it, you guys need to tell me _everything_!" Katie said at the same time.

"When everyone else gets here." Annabeth promised.

* * *

"Do we all have our own skates?" Annabeth asked.

"Yep." Everyone answered.

"Okay, first of all, this is Dana." Thalia gestured. "She's a former Huntress and the daughter of Khione. We met when I was Artemis's Lieutenant."

"Nice to meet you, Dana." Everyone chorused, and introduced themselves.

"Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

"Katie, daughter of Demeter."

"I'm Rachel, the Oracle."

"Wait, what?" Dana took a double take. "You're the Oracle?"

"Yep. That means I go all weird and creepy while breathing out depressing prophecies, and then I faint." Rachel rolled her eyes.

Dana laughed. "Nice to meet you all."

* * *

_**Yep, we're drawing near the end! Sorta. Hopefully. I working hard on finishing this story up, but I don't want it to seem too rushed. I hate it when a story has a really good beginning, but then the ending is wrapped up quickly, which ruins the whole story for me. So, when I say I'm wrapping this story up, I have to put in place all the loose ends and details, explain everything, and not drag it out. Geez, writing is harder than I thought. But reviews really help me update!**_

_**I'd like to give out a special thanks to RAHbooks, who's been with me all the way. **_

_**Another special thank you is to MidnightRose24, who always reviews every few chapters and makes my day all better!**_

_**Thanks for everyone's kind support of my first multi-chapter story. You've all been so nice; I feel so special!**_

_**I'll update soon, but reviews really motivate me!**_

_**Luna Rivera528**_

_***It must have something to do with the story,**_

_***It can NOT be something extremely stupid or offensive.**_

_***I would like it to be creative.**_

_***If you can, maybe make it something people will want to look at and read.**_


	24. Chapter 23: The Girlies Will Play

_**Hello y'all! Summer is ending! "( I'm kind of disappointed that I haven't managed to finish the story, but I have next to no time on my hands. However, I've decided that I'll try to update at least once every 2 weeks, maybe earlier if I'm lucky. So, I'll either update, or I'll post a little oneshot that just popped into me head. **_

**... The Girlies Will Play**

"All right, everyone, let's get this party started!" Thalia whooped as she ran toward the ice.

"Wait, Thalia!" Annabeth called. "You can't go on the ice without skates!"

"Oh all right." Thalia walked slowly back, slightly dejected. "But what if I can't skate in them? I'll be stuck on the wall, moving as slow as a snail!"

Katie smiled. "It's like walking in heels. Don't worry."

"Easy for you to say." Dana grumbled. "I hate wearing heels."

"Speak for yourself." Clarisse glared.

"Oh come on, ladies!" Rachel tried. "It's not that hard. The most difficult part is lacing the skates."

"Yeah, Rachel's right." Annabeth agreed. "But just out of curiousity, how many of us have gone skating before? I know I have, and so has Rachel. Right?" she looked to Rachel for clarification.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, it's really easy if you can find your balance."

"Has anyone else skated before?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, I have." Katie said. "It was for a friend's birthday party. It was really fun, but kind of challenging at first."

"And I've gone roller blading before," Dana offered. "Not the same as ice skating, but aren't the two really similar?"

"Yeah! Basically." Katie said encouragingly. "The ice is harder to balance though."

"All right. So Rachel, Katie, and I have all gone ice skating before, and Dana's gone roller blading. But we have a good balance of experience and inexperience. We'll help you guys fasten your skates."

"Thanks. I don't think I could have done it myself." Thalia almost sighed with relief. Almost. She wouldn't _actually _do that. Definitely not in her character to behave like that. But maybe her fight with- No, don't think of that! Today was a girl's day! That means no stupid guy stuff!

"Wow, Pinecone Head," Clarisse commented sarcastically. "I didn't think you'd ever admit that you couldn't do something by yourself. What's going on? Change of heart?"

Thalia gave her an evil glare. "Shut up, _Lamer_."

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me."

"Don't go there, girly." Clarisse got up in Thalia's face. "You might not be able to come back out."

"Show me what you got, _girl_." Thalia jabbed her finger toward herself, as if daring Clarisse to starting fighting her at that very instant."

"Guys, guys!" Rachel tried to calm them down. "Let's just try to actually _put on _our skates."

* * *

"Ugh! Why is this so ridiculously hard!" Dana grunted.

"I hear you." Thalia huffed. "The laces are too short! The won't tie together! And I swear that they're cutting into fingers."

Clarisse said nothing, though her face was that of the utmost concentration.

Three pairs of figure skates walked in front of them. "Need a hand?" Katie asked.

"Sure." Dana accepted the help gratefully.

"Annabeth, help me with my skates will you?" Thalia asked.

"'Kay." Annabeth answered. She knelt to the ground and started undoing all of Thalia's hard work.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Thalia excliamed.

"Your laces aren't tight enough. You won't be able to skate if they're too loose." Annabeth explained, not bothering to look up from her task.

"They _felt _tight enough." Thalia grumbled. "Besides, if they're too tight, my feet won't be able to move at all!"

"That's what the ice is for."

"Don't patronize me!"

"Of course not. I would never."

Thalia growled under her breath.

"There! Done." Annabeth said at last. "And it looks like Rachel helped Clarisse. How does it feel?" She called out.

"Like my feet are being strangled like a boa constrictor." Clarisse said grumpily.

"That means that it should be okay for now." Katie said, having finished with Dana's laces too.

"For _now_?"

The girls tried not to giggle at the expression on Clarisse's face.

* * *

"Aaaahhhhh!" Thalia screeched, arms and feet flailing wildly. "Annabeth, help!"

Annabeth skated gracefully over. "You can do it, Thalia! Just find your balance!" she encouraged.

"No! I want the wall! And I would be next to it right now, if _someone _hadn't pushed me away from it!"

"You need to learn how to skate without it. You've been hugging it for the past 10 minutes, and have barely gone halfway around the rink. And look! Clarisse has started to get the hang of it, and I swear that Dana's a natural. She's almost as good as Katie, Rachel, and me."

"I don't care."

"Fine, but you asked for it." Annabeth warned, skating away.

"Hey, wait! Come back!"

* * *

"See? That wasn't so hard."

"Easy for you to say. Are you sure you haven't skated before, Dana?"

"Yeah, but roller skating's really similar. The ice is just a little slipperier."

"Hmph."

"Hey, Pinecone Head! Nice job slipping around like that! I think you've got a future in comedy." Clarisse mocked.

"Shut up, Clarisse. At least I'm not afraid the ice won't hold under my weight."

"Excuse me? Did you just call me fat?"

"You said it yourself, not me."

"IT WAS IMPLIED!"

"So you say."

"Damn right I say! You little piece of overgrown crap!"

"What did you say?" Thalia asked, cracking up.

The other girls watched curiously, but when Clarisse got to that line, they burst out laughing hysterically.

"Little overgrown piece of crap?" Rachel choked out. "What does _that _mean?"

"I-I-" Clarisse tried to defend her line of thinking. "I- oh forget it." she started chuckling too, finally realizing her pathetic her response was.

"Okay." Katie was the first to break the silence. "I'm hungry. Can we grab some lunch?"

"Yeah." Rachel agreed. "Apollo's Oracle needs to eat."

"Speaking of Apollo, does he visit you often?" Dana asked mischievously. "And does he ever... spend the night?" she finished.

"N-no!" Rachel exclaimed, her cheeks flushing red. "J-just no! Urgh, that's just wrong!" she shuddered at the thought of what Dana had hinted at.

"Are you sure?" Thalia joined in the teasing.

"Of course! Don't you think I would no whether I still had the v-card to offer or not?" Rachel indignantly defended.

"Yeah, yeah, but you could be lying..."

"Guys! I'm hungry, remember?" Katie broke in.

"This place has a little cafe. We can eat there." Annabeth suggested. "The food is actually really good."

"All right then. Let's move!" Clarisse said enthusiastically. "Katie-Bear isn't the only one that's starving."

"Katie-Bear?"

* * *

_**My late night attempt at writing the story. Hopefully it was up-to-standards, because I really try to bring out the best of the best for you guys. Please review! I might try and update tomorrow, but then again, I might update my other story instead!**_

_**Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions! **_

_**Luna Rivera528**_


	25. Chapter 24: Perfect Day, Suckish Night

_**Okay, trying to update here. Cut me some slack, I know the plots kinda slow, but whatever. I'm working on it!**_

**Perfect Day-Suckish Night**

The six girls sat in silence. Then...

"I can't believe they did that!" Katie raged. "What the Hades are they trying to pull?"

"Oh my gods." Rachel had a hand over her mouth. "Percy actually did that? No way."

"I swear I'll kill that no-good son of Poseidon. Freaking fish-face." Clarisse stated, her hands clenched into fists.

"Thalia," Dana was a little calmer, "when did this happen? When I met you guys in the cafeteria, everything seemed fine."

"It was just a little after that." Thalia dismissed. "But enough about me. Annabeth! I can't believe you and Percy broke up!"

"We didn't exactly _break up_, per say." Annabeth said. "We're just... On a break from seeing each other."

"So basically," Dana put in, "you guys broke up."

"No! I just said that we _didn't _break up!"

"But it you look at the situation around it..." Dana trailed off, facing the heat of Annabeth's death glare. "Never mind."

"What are you going to do?" Rachel asked.

"What do you mean?" Thalia wanted to know.

"Well, you're both technically single now, so..."

"Don't do anything." Katie advised.

"Why not?" Clarisse asked curiously. "I think they should go out with somebody else; show those two assholes that they're all right without them."

"I'm gonna side with Katie on this one." Dana said. "I don't think it's very fair to the guy who you go out with. I mean, you're basically leading him on! And he'll actually think that he has a chance with you."

"Yes..." Thalia said thoughtfully, "but what if he knows what we're doing?"

"Huh?" all the other girls looked at her.

"Well, what if we got some guys from camp to help us? Some guys that wouldn't mind hanging around with us for a while. Then, when Percy and Nico get jealous, we'll explain to them what we did and the guys who we 'went out with' won't mind at all." Thalia explained her plan to the group.

"That... might actually work." Annabeth mulled it over.

"I like it." Clarisse decided. "Got any problems with the strategy, sweetheart?" she sarcastically asked Dana.

"No." Dana glared. "It's good; except for one thing."

"What is it _now_?" Clarisse rolled her eyes.

"Who's going to go out with Thalia and Annabeth? _And _won't mind when they're being used." Dana asked with an eyebrow raised.

"That is actually a good point."

"Yeah."

"Well, got any ideas?" Rachel asked Annabeth.

"Not really." she admitted. "We have to get a guys who won't get attached, even if he says he wouldn't in the beginning. I'm thinking of getting someone who likes someone else, or maybe even someone's boyfriend."

"Yeah, but then both the guy _and _the girl have to be okay with it."

"I know, it's so complicated." Annabeth sighed. "Any other suggestions, girls?"

"Well..." Katie began slowly, "Connor is still single. Think he'd be okay with it?"

"He's your boyfriend's brother!" Annabeth said indignantly.

"Yeah, but it's all right if he agrees." Katie argued. "_And _you all ready know him. So it'd be believable."

"Fine." Annabeth crossed her arms, not very happy with the potential candidate. "But what about the other guy?"

"I'm still working on that."

"Would a mortal work?" Rachel asked curiously.

"No." Thalia quickly shot that idea down. "If I get attacked, what'll he think? I don't want him to be scarred for life."

"Um, you're going to hate me for this," Annabeth said, "but what about Pollux?"

Thalia wrinkled her nose. "Pollux? You mean, Dionysus's son Pollux?"

"That's the one."

"Well, maybe, but what'd he do for a date?" Thalia asked. "Bring me on a wine tour?"

"Hey, that's mean!" Katie whacked her on the arm.

"I am mean." Thalia said with a feral grin.

No one argued.

"Come on, Thalia, don't be so picky. He's kind of good-looking." Dana tried.

"Who cares? I don't want to do something stupid for a date."

"Like being the son of Hades brings forth many good dating opportunities?" Clarisse snorted. "If you're looking for that, try one of Aphrodite's sons."

"Ugh." Thalia shudddered. "Too obsessed with their looks."

Katie threw her hands up into the air. "I agree with Dana. You're too picky."

"More like there's no really good guys that you know." Annabeth pointed out. "Besides, you're not committing, you're just using him."

"That's crude."

"But it's true."

"All right, fine." Thalia rolled her eyes. "I give up. I'll give him a try." she stuck her tongue out at the other girls. "You guys aren't very helpful in choosing guys."

"I suggested Pollux, remember?"

"And look how much convincing I needed."

"Yeah, well, don't hold your breath." Annabeth cautioned. "We still have to convince the guys."

"Right."

"Okay, Katie. Can you convince Connor?"

"Of course. It'll be easy, as long as I pay him in food." Katie smirked uncharacteristically.

"Good. Um, Clarisse?"

"Yeah?"

"Isn't Chris on good terms with Pollux?"

"Good enough. I mean, he's not trying to kill him."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Perfect. That's just great."

Annabeth broke in. "Just get Chris to convince Pollux."

"Fine. I'll call him."

"All righty then, ladies." Rachel smiled. "Operation Make The Boys Jealous has begun!"

* * *

"I can't believe how much time we spent in the ice rink." Dana exclaimed. "Seriously, I think it's already four in the afternoon."

"Well, we were talking strategy." Annabeth pointed out.

"No time to go to the mall?"

"None."

Dana sighed. "Oh well. I guess I'll be going. See you guys later!"

"Bye, Dana!"

The other five girls continued to walk to the subway together.

* * *

_on the subway train_

"Um, Annabeth." Rachel whispered. "I think Percy's on the same subway as us."

Annabeth's head whipped up. "No way." she groaned. "Not even my luck could be this bad."

"Sorry."

"Not your fault."

Clarisse glared at the guy. "He looks a lot like Fish-Face all right."

"Do you think that he sees me?" Annabeth asked.

"Not yet." Thalia put in. "Otherwise he'd be making his way over here. Stupid asshole."

"Can't you guys hide me?" Annabeth begged.

"We'll try." Katie said. "But sooner or later he'll notice one of us, and will probably come over."

"Aw shit."

"Maybe not." Thalia tried to comfort Annabeth. "I bet he's so dense that he can't see through the crowd of people."

"That's not a risk I'm willing to take." Ananbeth pushed herself up off her seat. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Do they even have one on subways?"

"Hope so."

"Here, I'll come with you." Rachel offered.

"Okay, thanks." The two girls walked toward the back of the subway. Unfortunately, Percy caught the movement with his eyes and looked straight at them.

"Shit! He's seen us!" Rachel cursed.

"Quick, start speed walking." Annabeth ordered, not daring to look.

The other girls formed a barrier to block Percy out.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Percy asked them. "Can I just-"

"Oh, no way, Percy Jackson." Clarisse said menacingly. "Uh uh. Just leave Annabeth alone."

"I need to talk to her."

"Well, too bad for you." Thalia interjected. "She's trying to get over you, so go back to your stupid spot and forget that you saw her."

"No." Percy remained stubborn. "I have to see her."

"You didn't seem to be paying that much attention to her earlier." Katie accused.

"You weren't even there! How would _you _know what happened?"

"Girls talk to girls, Fish-Face. And right now, she's told us how much a bastard you are." Clarisse said.

"Woah, I don't think you should judge by what she's said." Percy narrowed his eyes. "Everyone's got a side."

"You're actually playing the part of the good guy?" Thalia scoffed. "You really are an asshole. Just get off at your stop and leave us alone."

"For the last time, no! I'm not leaving until I talk to Annabeth!" Percy insisted.

"You know what? Fine. Stay on the freaking subway. But we're not making it easy for you." Katie warned.

Just at that moment, Annabeth and Rachel walked toward them, _and _the subway arrived at the next station.

"Annabeth!" Percy cried.

"Come on, guys. Let's go." Rachel said, ushering the girls out.

"You know I'll just follow you."

"Not if you're too late."

"Huh?"

The girls quickly walked out of the subway train just as the doors were closing.

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed, trying to force his way out, but with no avail. "Hold on a 'sec!"

As the subway pulled away, Thalia and Clarisse waved at him, smirks on his faces.

* * *

_**I like this chapter. Some of my scheming side shows through. And the story will be done soon! Bonus! Sorry, this story's really taken a drastic turn. I wasn't expecting to break up Thalia and Nico, but I did. And I didn't think I'd use these many characters, but I did. And I definitely wasn't planning to break up Annabeth and Percy. However, I'm already planning the ending, and I think I know what's going to happen.**_

_**Review! Or subscribe, or do something that makes my happy and inspires me to keep it up.**_

_**Luna Rivera528**_


	26. Chapter 26: Thoughts About Love

_**Yep! I'm still alive... Geez, I've turned into one of those writers. You know, the type of writer who updates stories probably like 3 times a year... Does it help if I say I'm really sorry?**_

_**I'm working on finishing this story, and I'm really sorry (again) for how long it's dragged on. Unfortunately, I don't know how many more chapters it'll take, but I definitely don't want make the story seem rushed. I'm working on it! ")**_

**Thoughts on Love**

"Ugh, that guy just doesn't know when to stop." Thalia said, shaking her head. "I mean, it's obvious that Annabeth doesn't want to talk to him."

"Yeah," Katie chimed in, "that's why it's called 'needing space.' You can't just go up to someone that's mad at you, and pretend that everything's okay. It just doesn't work that way."

"Well, Percy's always been rather stupid." Rachel joked.

Clarisse snorted. "That's the understatement of the century. Guys are idiots."

"Hey, Annabeth, you okay? You're really quiet." Dana asked.

"I was just wondering." Annabeth told the group. "Do you think that I was too rude to him?"

"What are you talking about, girl? You gave that b*stard everything he deserved!" Clarisse said emphatically.

"But I got mad over something really little. It was so petty, but I was really tired that day. I just wasn't in the best mood, and Percy wasn't making things any better. Plus, I was trying to figure out how to make Thalia happier." Annabeth cast a glance at Thalia.

Thalia smiled crookedly. "Don't worry about me; I'm fine. Maybe this is how things should be. Maybe me and Nico were never meant to be together."

"It's actually 'Nico and I.'"

'Yeah, Thalia, aren't you supposed to know that?"

"Who cares about that; how are you guys discussing Thalia's terrible grammar when she just mentioned something really important!" Dana exclaimed.

"Huh?" The group of girls blinked at her.

"Am I the only smart one here? Thalia, you and Nico are just going through a rough spot. Just because you guys had a fight doesn't mean the Fates are against you." Dana explained. "Couples get into fights all the time. You just have to tough it out. Getting into fights and making up creates a closer bond!"

"Isn't that just for mortals?" Thalia blinked.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "No, Dana's right. This is probably one of the things that 'mortals' are doing the right way. They're smart enough to realize that humans can't get along perfectly all the time. If they did, the world would be boring. Arguing and offering different opinions are one of the reasons that the mortal world has advanced so much."

Clarisse broke in. "Oh, come on. Get real. The gods are the reasons that the mortals have advanced so far. The Muses give inventors ideas, and the smart ones manage to get the job done. And the gods know that if a relationship doesn't work, it means that they just aren't compatible."

"Clarisse, open your eyes! The Muses may help out, but it's the mortals sense of determination that makes things work! And the gods have totally screwed up the word 'relationships.' I mean, honestly, all of you guys are the result of the gods' affairs!" Rachel exclaimed.

Silence.

"Sorry, guys, that was uncalled for." Rachel said sheepishly.

"No." Katie spoke up. "You're right. We needed to hear that. It's just that, you have to understand, we've looked up to our parents for our whole livesm trying to become someone worthy of their praise. Every one of their children wants to be that one special child that stands out from the crowd. I guess that we kind of think of our parents as idols, and we try to imitate everything we can."

Thalia looked down. When she spoke, her voice was unusually soft. "You guys are probably right. Maybe... I should talk to Nico soon."

"Thalia, that'd be great. And we're behind you every step of the way." Dana encouraged, smiling.

Thalia cracked a smile. "Well, I _am _the daughter of Zeus. Maybe I inherited his lousy relationship sense." she joked.

"Hey, guys, sorry, but I've got to go now." Katie said apologetically. "I've got a date with Travis."

"Ooo, hurry up and get ready for your date!" Rachel laughed. "I've actually got to go too, sorry. See you guys around! Good luck with your relationships, Thalia, Annabeth!"

"Aww, looks look the girls day out is over now." Dana pouted. "Oh well, let's get together soon, okay?" she asked.

"Yeah." The other girls agreed.

"Bye, guys.!"

"Bye, see you!"

"See you soon!"

The girls exchanged goodbyes, and set off toward their respective homes.

* * *

At night, Annabeth lay pondering. What should she do? She wasn't as carefree as Thalia, and wasn't going to just drop Percy because of something so small, but she knew that she'd be embarassed if she apologized to Percy. It wasn't entirely his fault, and she understood that she held part of the blame for being so short-temepered. Ugh, if only she could figure out what to do with her heart.

* * *

Percy was on Brooklyn Bridge, looking out at the harbor. He smiled, nostalgic, remembering the war that he had fought in. _Annabeth was so fired up. She was ready to fight until she died. And she ended up being to key to saving the world. She reached out to Luke. Luke, who was the hero. _He shook his head, clearing those thoughts from his mind. _I'm not letting going of Annabeth that easily. No way, she's too amazing for that. And-_

"Hey, young man, what are you doing here?"

Percy started, and whipped his head around, only to see a police woman staring at him.

"Oh, um, just looking at the harbor." Percy said dumbly.

The woman raised a skeptical eyebrow. The action reminded him of Annabeth. "I see." Was all she said.

"Yeah."

Percy saw the woman approach him and lean against the railing. She stared out into the harbor, as in deep in thought.

"Young man."

"Um, yes?"

"Do you know the story of _Romeo and Juliet_?"

"Kind of. Don't they kill each other because of their love?" Percy tried.

The woman shook her head and sighed. "You youths are all the same. Yes, that is the result, but you have missed the entire purpose of the story. They were extremely loyal to each other, and they were willing to go through anything to be together. Any complication that arose was treated as nothing, as long as they had each other. _Romeo and Juliet _is a tragedy, but it is also a story of extreme loyalty. Have you ever loved someone that way? You feel as if you can conquer anything as long as she is by your side, and you are willing to do anything for her?"

Percy didn't miss a beat. "Yes."

"Now tell me; have you ever hurt her?"

He winced. "Yes."

"What did you do to restore your relationship?"

"Nothing yet."

The woman narrowed her eyes at him. "Interesting. This is how you love? This is the person you would be willing to do anything for, yet you have done nothing to make things right between you two? I don't think that is love. I call it," she stared at him steadily, and he noted her gray eyes, "infatuation. Puppy love."

Percy looked straight at the woman, and said plainly, "You're Athena, aren't you?"

She tilted her head, and said, "Yes."

Percy sighed. "You know that I love Annabeth. I'm willing to do anything for her, but right now I have to let her cool down."

"Percy Jackson. I have told you numerous times that I do not approve of your relationship with my daughter. I don't want her to be let down, and you have down exactly that. I should destroy you for doing so."

Percy winced.

"However, unlike many of the other gods, I understand that couples have disagreements. But in the end, the most important thing is to see how the couple handles the situation. Annabeth was not herself that day, and shares part of the blame. Her temper was short, and you," she looked at him with disgust. "you are the spawn of Poseidon. You have no attention span whatsoever; a goldfish could focus more than you."

"Excuse me-"

"You did not help matters with my daughter at all. She was worried about your mutual friends Nico and Thalia, and was concerned about how they were feeling. She was conferring with you to try and come up with a plan to make them reach an agreement, and you refused to pay attention. You both share the blame. I will be watching you, Perseus Jackson. Don't screw up."

And she disintegrated into a pile of dust, causing Percy to cough violently.

"Great." Percy said aloud. "Now I've got an angry goddess watching my every move." He then looked over the harbor again, and shouted, "Annabeth, I swear I'll make it up to you! And not because of your mom, but because you are my only love!"

He tilted his head up to the sky, and grinned. "Yep. I'll start tomorrow."

* * *

**_Phew! Took me the whole day to do! I know the last part was a little weird, but I couldn't think of what else Percy would say..._**

**_I think'll I switch over to Thalia and Nico soon._**

**_Luna Rivera528 _**

**_")_**


	27. Chapter 27: Contemplation

_**Hey hey! It's summer, so I'm back with another chapter! XD**_

_**I just wanna thank everyone who's continued reading this story, even when I've taken LONG breaks from writing. Your support is awesome, and if I could mail a prize to you, I would.**_

**Contemplation**

Nico woke up at around 10:30 AM. As he stretched, he wondered what he would do that day, considering that Thalia and he weren't really on the best of terms.

"Maybe I should visit Camp Half-Blood." He said aloud.

_But what if Thalia's there? What would I say if I saw her? Especially after that lovely little talk in the mall. _He winced. _I could just ignore her... But knowing her, she'll probably try to make my life even more miserable now. _Nico shook his head. _No, what are the chances that she'll actually be at Camp Half-Blood? She's probably not going to be there. Might as well get in a little training. _He nodded to himself.

Man, he really was losing it, talking to himself like that.

* * *

Thalia's phone vibrated, and she sighed. She picked it up, noticing that she had one new message.

_Hey, r we going 4 the plan 2 make the guys jelus? Christ got Pollx 2 agre._

_C_

Oh great. Thalia sighed again. She still wasn't sure that she wanted to go through a pretend date in order to make Nico jealous. First of all, if he did notice her new 'relationship,' he'd probably figure it was permanently over, and would most likely look for a new girlfriend. And she wasn't really sure if she wanted that to happen. Second of all, he might not notice that she began a (fake) relationship with Pollux. And then she'd be stuck being bored for countless dates. Unfortunately, she didn't trust herself to keep her temper under control. Maybe she could call Annabeth and ask her opinion?

She dialed Annabeth's number.

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

"Hello?"

"Hey, Annabeth."

"Hey, what's up, Thalia?"

"I've got a question for you."

"Oh, sorry, can you say that again? The connection's probably bad, I can barely hear you."

"I'VE. GOT. A. QUESTION. FOR. YOU."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Are we going through the plan to make Percy and Nico jealous?"

"Pardon?"

"ARE WE GOING THROUGH THE PLAN TO MAKE PERCY AND NICO JEALOUS?"

"Listen, I'm really sorry, but I'll call you again later. I still can't make out what you're trying to ask me. I'll call you soon, okay?"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Thalia gaped at the phone in disbelief. Annabeth had hung up on her.

"Great." Thalia groused. "Just great. You're an awesome help, Annabeth, really." She told the phone sarcastically.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Oh, shut up."

* * *

As Annabeth hung up, she wondered what Thalia had been trying to ask her. Hopefully, not anything important. She made a mental note to check on her phone connection when she had time, but right now, she was busy wondering what to do. Katie had sent her a text, saying that Connor agreed to their little jealousy plan. Once again, she was having second thoughts about how she had treated Percy.

_"You know what? I'm done."_

_"Can't you guys hide me?"_

_"Quick, start speed walking."_

She constantly attempted to avoid speaking with him, and refused to even look at him. She didn't give him the reason why she was so upset; she just left him to figure it out by himself. Annabeth sighed.

Ugh. Maybe she needed some air. She wasn't sure that she wanted to continue thinking about Percy. Maybe a little date with Connor was what she needed.

* * *

Percy sat on his armchair, chewing on blueberry jelly beans.

_"Annabeth, I swear I'll make it up to you! And not because of your mom, but because you are my only love!"_

He winced. Okay, maybe that was a bit corny. But he had meant every word! Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out where to start. Maybe he should go to Camp Half-Blood in order to get a few ideas? It wasn't like planning was his strength; he was best at action and fighting. But Percy was pretty sure that fighting wouldn't help his situation very much.

"Okay." Percy decided. "I'll go to Camp Half-Blood and ask around for a few ideas." He paused for a second. "But first, I'd better drop by her house one more time. Just in case."

* * *

On his way over to where she lived, he dropped by a flower store, and bought her three forget-me-nots. However, when he rang the doorbell, no one answered.

_Ding Dong Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong_

_Ding Dong Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong_

_Ding Dong Dong Ding Dong-_

_"_Excuse me."

Percy whipped his head around. An elderly woman stood there, looking at him quizzically. "Young man, is there a reason you continue to ring that young woman's doorbell?"

"Well, um," Percy scratched his head sheepishly, "I'm sort-of looking for her, and I was hoping that she'd be at home."

"I'm sorry." The elderly woman smiled, "But your friend left for a vacation. She asked me to keep an eye on her home while she was gone."

"Oh, I see." Percy said. "Well, do you know where she went?"

"I'm afraid not." The woman answered. "But her luggage was relatively small, so either she won't be gone very long, or she's gone somewhere that she's very familiar with."

"That's great, thank you so much." Percy smiled.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be any more help."

"No, you've helped me a lot. Thank you very much!"

"It's no problem. I hope you meet with her soon."

After the elderly woman turned away, Percy set off for his house. He knew where Annabeth was, and he was going there to find her.

"Looks like it's time to go camping."

* * *

_**Well? Was it good? Did everyone enjoy it? I really hope that my writing skill hasn't diminished, but I re-read my previous chapters in order to refresh my memory on how the story should pan out. :) Hopefully it was up to standards! **_

_**Yeah, I really appreciate reviews, and I would LOVE it if you amazing readers would submit some ideas for a new title. After all, I think that my story's gone a little off track from what I first wanted it to be. But I'm not complaining. This plot is so much deeper than I had originally planned, but I think that's okay. But everyone understands why I want some ideas for a new story title. So if everyone could just submit some ideas, that'd be awesome. **_

_**Luna Rivera528**_


	28. Chapter 28: She's Got Love Like Woe

_**I was inspired to write another chapter after going through this story's traffic stats. After viewing the large amount of people who read the story over the years, I just sort of got into the mood of writing again. (Yes, I know, I'm a freak, please don't judge.) Maybe the fact that the next Percy Jackson movie is coming out played a part in my sudden mood to write.**_

_**Oh, and we have a new character that I chose from the previous contest selections. Everyone, please congratulate **Annabeth-Kahlan-Alanna-Cara, **for her lovely character. **_

_**Honorable mention (that I might still use, just because I can):**_

_Makana345786_

_Freshberry4ever_

_**And, I would also like to mention that I used part of **Sportygirl247**'s character description. Or at least the catchphrase. I hope that's okay, Sportygirl! :)**_

**She's Got Love Like Woe**

Nico scowled. He had arrived at Camp Half-Blood around noon, figuring that if everyone was busy eating, no one would bother to disturb him. Then, he would be able to sneak into his cabin and (hopefully) avoid everyone's attention for the next few hours. Maybe he'd get lucky, and no one would realize he was there until the next few _days_. Shouldn't be too hard, as long as he stayed in his cabin.

Though, his calculations didn't exactly figure in some random boy, sleeping at the base of his cabin's door.

"Dude." Nico nudged, (not kicked!) the boy with his shoe. "Dude, wake up. Creeper stalker boy. You're sleeping in front of my cabin."

Creepy stalker boy, as Nico had christened (well, he _was_ in front of his cabin), simply snored.

Fine.

Nico could deal with creepy stalkers.

He smirked.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"OW!" The boy rolled on the ground, while Nico stood smirking, holding his cabin door open. "Hey, Emo-kid! Not cool! Let a guy nap, all right?!"

Nico shrugged. "Your fault. You were in the way. Next time, choose someone else's cabin to sleep in front of. Not mine."

"Excuse me? _No one_ owns that cabin. The only son of Hades hasn't been around in months, so it is a perfectly reasonable place to take a nap. Do some research the next time you harass an innocent."

"The only son of Hades hasn't been around in months, huh?"

"Yeah. So you couldn't actually claim that cabin as yours anyway." The boy, now newly dubbed as annoying short freak, compliments of Nico, replied.

"Right. Except that I actually _am _the son of Hades."

The annoying short freak sighed. "Get real. Do you realize how utterly idiotic that sounds? Please. If you really the son of Hades, I swear on the River Styx that I'll do anything you want me to do."

The sky rumbled.

"All right. I like this bet." Nico rolled his eyes, smirking. "I guess I'll just prove it to you." Then, he furrowed his brow, closing his eyes. He could feel the tiny skeletons underneath the earth, almost wiggling toward his power and ability to make them move again.

The boy laughed. "Dude, you look really dumb. Are you _trying _to achieve a new level of stupid?"

Nico cracked one eye open. "Really?" He asked smugly. "Because I think you're the one who looks stupid. After all, I'm not the one with a skeletal tarantula on my back."

The boy's scream echoed throughout camp.

* * *

"Ugh, I hate taxis." Percy grumbled as he walked through Camp Half-Blood's entrance. "Especially their stupid advertisements promoting stupid vacations for stupid romantic couples. And I hate stupid relationship counselors who claim that they can solve any problem, and then proceed to call the loony bins after I tell them what's wrong. They're so stupid."

Percy was having a bad day.

"Wow, your grammar is horrible."

And it was about to get a whole lot worse.

"What do you want, Clarisse?" Percy groaned.

"For you to go die."

"That's real creative."

"Your face is real creative. Who arranged it, a three-year-old?"

"..."

"Why are you here?" Clarisse demanded. "Just leave her alone."

Percy immediately perked up. "Annabeth's here?"

"No, your sister is."

"...I don't have a sister."

"Hey, idiot, your idiot face is on. The one that screams to the world, 'I am an idiot. Please toss me in a meat-flavored sack and feed me to Artemis's wolves.' No shit. Of course Annabeth."

"Clarisse, I am exhausted, and I want to sleep. If you feel like insulting someone, please look in a mirror and then say your insulting things to what you see. I guarantee that whatever dumb thing you say to the reflection, it will be true."

Clarisse growled. "Do you want to die?"

"No, I'm going to go sleep." And with that, Percy dragged himself through camp until collapsing on his bed. Sigh. It was good to be home.

* * *

_A little while ago_

"Hey, Thalia?"

"Yes, Annabeth?"

"Do you want to go to Camp Half-Blood with me? Clarisse said that she was heading back there, and Chris said that both Connor and Pollux are there too."

"Annabeth?"

"Yes, Thalia?"

A sigh. "Do you think that this is the right thing to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Making Nico and Percy jealous. What if that just drives them away?"

"Thalia," Annabeth said gently, "I fought with Percy before the war, during the war, and after it. I wouldn't jeopardize all of that just to get back at him. I honestly think that this will work, and that it will be okay. And I'm positive that I'll still fight with him years later."

"Well, it's great that _you've_ got it all figured out, but what about Nico?"

"What about him?"

"I really, really like him, Annabeth."

Annabeth smiled. "He might be infamous for holding grudges, but I'm sure that he loves you. Who knows? He might be at camp pining for you right now."

"Quit smiling. I can hear it in your voice."

"Right, right. But seriously, you have nothing to worry about. If you see him, it'll probably be a little awkward, but you guys'll probably be holding hands and arguing in no time."

"But you know about his grudges."

"And both you and I know about how he feels about. Just because you guys had a fight doesn't mean everything's changed; all it means is that you hit a speed bump in the road of life. When you get back together, you'll be closer than ever, because you guys will understand more about each other."

There was a slight pause. "Man, you sound like one of those sappy romance books."

Annabeth laughed. "What can I say? Would you believe me if I said Percy was a fan?"

"Only if it's true. It'll be more blackmail material for me." Thalia smirked.

"You're terrible."

"Thank you. And Annabeth?"

"Yes?"

"This conversation never happened. I'll meet you at the bus station in an hour. That's enough time for you to pack your girly things, right?"

"Sure. Just like an hour's enough time for you to pack some condoms for Nico."

Thalia hung up the phone.

* * *

_**Lalalalalala! Wasn't that just beautiful? I'm actually really, really happy at the way this chapter turned out. Oh, by the way, as for the new guy Nico met, that's one of the new characters. I apologize that I haven't actually released his name yet, but that will all change soon. ")**_

_**I kind of have a question for you guys. Do you think my writing style's changed? I haven't written in a long time, but I've been reading tons of other fanfictions, so I'm not sure if that's affected the way I write. Just curious.**_

_**And one more thing: For my ever loyal and amazing readers, I would love for you guys to help me come up with a new title for this story. I changed the summary, but I REALLY want to change the title. So PLEASE give me a few title ideas in your reviews. If you guys could do that, that'd be awesome.**_

_**")**_

_**Signing off!**_

_**Luna Rivera528**_


End file.
